Fire Emblem Awakening: Defying Destiny
by Emblemfan1
Summary: Robin is forced in to an unfamiliar world as he awakens with no memories. He must make his way in a land on the brink of war, along with his new friends in the Shepherds. However on the way to Ylisse, ungodly creatures appear, leaving the world to take a turn for the worse. Will Robin ever find the key to his lost past, or will he lose himself along the way.
1. premonition

**Fire Emblem Awakening: Defying Destiny**

**Future past**

"Hyaaaaaaaah!"

The blue haired exalt's battle cry rebounded off the sides of the sacrificial altar as he and his companion made towards their quarry, weapons brandished. The young exalt's name was Chrom. He was a skilled warrior who was an expert in sword art. He wielded the legendary dragon slaying sword, Falchion, the blade of the hero king, Marth which he used to defeat the fell dragon, Grima centuries ago.

His companion was his tactician and closest friend. The tactician was one of the rare few who dared to use both tomes and swords. What's more he was extremely skilled in using both. He currently had in his possession a Thoron tome and a steel sword. His tactician's cloak hood covered most of his face. The two had been through so much together they were practically brothers. It seemed that nothing could break their bond. The sorcerer they were fighting was known as Validar. He was a tall and skinny man wearing a dark sorcerer's robe. He was wielding the dark tome Grima's Wrath. Dark magic was erupting from his fingertips.

Chrom engaged Validar first. Dark magic flew as Chrom swung Falchion at Validar, each time being blocked by the dark wizard's magic. The tactician ran to the side, pooling his mana, charging a blast of Thoron ready to shoot Validar when there was an opening.

All of a sudden Validar disengaged the young exalt and leapt several feet into the air

"Up there!" cried Chrom, pointing to where Validar was floating above them, a large ball of dark energy forming above his head.

Validar gave both men a snake-like smile and sent with the ball of dark energy crashing down towards the ground between the two friends, sending them flying across the altar away from one another. As the tactician was thrown he sent the bolt of Thoron he had been charging towards the dark wizard. Unfortunately Validar teleported away from the blast just in the nick of time. The Thoron spell struck the ceiling leaving a scorch mark where the spell had dissipated, sending rubble flying to the ground.

The tactician looked up from the ground just in time to see Chrom blasted into one of the pillars supporting the ceiling. He stared in horror as dust cleared to reveal Chrom struggling to stand up against Falchion. The tactician cocked his head towards the laughing figure of Validar who was once again creating a sphere of dark energy ready to finish off Chrom.

"DIE!" the sorcerer screamed launching the sphere of dark energy towards the injured exalt.

Faster than he knew he could the tactician rose to his feet and sent a blast of Thoron to intercept the sorcerer's attack. The two spells collided causing an explosion that resulted in dust flying everywhere. When the dust cleared Validar stood tall eyeing the tactician.

The tactician looked at Chrom who was still struggling to get up across the floor from them. He needed time to recover before he could fight again. It was up to him to distract Validar while Chrom got his breath back. "Chrom's going to owe me for this." the tactician thought, putting his tome back into his robe's inner pocket and unsheathing his sword.

"It's time to tip the scales!" The tactician cried rushing forward holding his sword in both hands. Validar merely sniggered and engaged his quarry. Despite not being nearly as skilled with a sword as Chrom, the tactician managed to hold his own against the dark sorcerer. Both were giving it their all, neither fighter giving in. Every time the tactician's sword struck Validar's magic it seemed a small shock wave would pass through the area. However, as the battle went on, Validar began to gain the upper hand on the tactician, who was beginning to lose his stamina. "This can't go on much longer." he thought blocking another one of Validar's blows. "Chrom, I swear you'd better get over here and help or-" the tactician's thoughts were cut short as Validar finally broke his sword with a slash of magic that the tactician had only just been able to block.

Briefly looking at what had once been his sword, the tactician began to reach for his Thoron tome only to be stopped by a heavy boot that had been thrown on top of his chest, pinning him down preventing him from reaching it.

"Such a disappointment" Validar sneered, looking down in disgust at the tactician. "You could have been. So. Much. More. You had a great purpose, THE GREATEST PURPOSE!" The last words he practically screamed. With that he raised his hand and dark magic began to materialize above him. "It doesn't matter what I do to you, He can repair anything that I break."

Validar's words scared the tactician more than he could say. He knew who Validar was referring to. He knew what purpose Validar was referring to, his destiny, his terrible destiny. The tactician closed his eyes waiting for the final blow. But it never came. Instead he heard Validar cry out in pain and felt a weight lift from his chest. The tactician opened his eyes to find Chrom standing over him, Falchion in hand, sweat rolling down his brow. The Tactician looked towards the figure of Validar, who was now standing in front of the altar clutching his side where Chrom had clearly slashed the evil sorcerer.

"Let's finish this"

The tactician turned to his friend standing at his side. "Right" the tactician replied with a smirk. He prepared his Thoron tome, but also pooled his mana together ready to be released as a massive blast of electrical energy. "Ignis" the tactician thought.

All of a sudden purple flames seemed to manifest themselves from the tactician's body. He could feel his physical and magical strength increase dramatically. Channelling all his remaining energy into one last attack, the tactician sent the spell crashing towards the injured Validar.

The spell hit its mark, striking Validar in the chest. The smell of burning flesh filled the room as Validar looked to his bloodied, seared chest and then back to the two friends looking at him with cautious eyes.

Suddenly Validar's body burst into flames. He sank to his knees, then, falling to the ground he outstretched his hand as if trying to reach for them, only for it to collapse along with his burning body.

Chrom turned to his closest friend and gave a tired smile, which the tactician happily returned. The moment came to an abrupt end when a final shout came from the burning corpse of Validar.

"NO, THIS ISN'T OVER!" he cried, his body suddenly rising up from the ground. "DAMN YOU BOTH!" Just as Validar disappeared he sent out a wave of dark magic aimed directly at Chrom. Chrom's reaction was too slow. He was still looking at the tactician. In what would be his final act of bravery, the tactician pushed Chrom, his best and closest friend, out of the way of the blast, taking on the full might of the attack, sure that he would die. "Still there are worse ways to go out." He thought. "Saving your best friend slash exalt isn't a bad way to go." With that he closed his eyes and waited for death's embrace. Instead he felt himself strike the floor after flying several meters away from Chrom.

The tactician looked up from the floor to see Chrom running over to him.

"Hey, are you alright?" Chrom said helping his friend off the floor, smiling slightly to see he was alive. "That's the last of him." They both looked towards the altar as the last few cinders of what had been Validar dissipated.

"Thanks to you we carried the day" Chrom happily told his friend still looking towards the altar. However something was happening to the tactician. He could feel a powerful force invade his mind, forcing him to do its bidding, his vision turned red and he could barely hear a thing.

He managed to make out Chrom saying "Hey Robin, are you alright, hang on, we'll get you to- uh"

Chrom's eyes suddenly widened in surprise, betrayal evident in them and took a few steps back, enough for the tactician to see a spear of electrical energy piercing Chrom's body, blood dripping from the wound. The tactician looked from the figure of his dying friend to his own bloodied hand that still had electrical energy sparking, permanently staining the evidence of what he had done on his gloves forever.

Looking back towards his friend, the tactician found himself in shock not even able to apologise for what he had done. Chrom looked towards him and said, his voice now nothing but a whisper. "This is not your-your fault. Promise me, you'll escape this place, please go." With those last words Chrom shut his eyes and collapsed on the hard floor.

The tactician stepped back still looking at the corpse of his friend, horrified at what he had done. Tears formed in his eyes. What had he done? He was the murderer of the exalt, his best friend. What would the others think of him? Chrom's family was never going to forgive him; Sumia would have to raise their children alone. He could only imagine the sadness on the faces of Lucina and little Cynthia, when they found out that their father had died.

"HAHAHAHAAAHAAAHAAAHAHA"

The sound of laughter brought the tactician out of his thoughts. He looked around for the source, but there was no one there.

"OH HOW THE MIGHTY HAVE FALLEN, KILLED LIKE THE PATHETIC DOG HE WAS" the voice boomed, reverberating off the walls, striking at the tactician's heart.

"Who's there!" the tactician called. "HHHow dare you speak of Chrom like that!" His voice was a mixture of rage and sorrow.

"I AM WHO YOU WILL BECOME, WHO YOU WERE ALWAYS MEANT TO BE." The voice replied mockingly "THE MARK ON THE BACK OF YOUR HAND IS PROOF THAT YOU BELONG TO ME."

"NO!" The tactician shouted out "I will never be one with you!"

"OH, BUT WHAT CHOICE DO YOU HAVE? YOU ARE NOW ALL ALONE. WHEN YOUR FRIENDS FIND OUT WHAT YOU HAVE DONE, THEY WILL RESENT YOU, HATE YOU, FEAR YOU!" The voice was practically giggling with glee sensing the Tactician's resolve breaking. "THIS QUEST YOU CAME HERE TO ACCOMPLISH WAS FRUITLESS. YOU COULDN'T EVEN KILL VALIDAR."

"What are you talking about? I watched Validar-" The tactician stopped mid-sentence, turning back towards the altar to see Validar standing there smirking at him.

"YOUR FRIEND IS DEAD FOR NOTHING, AND. NOW. YOU. HAVE. NOTHING!"

"No, you're wrong!" And yet he was unsure.

"BUT I'M NOT." The voice simply replied. "COME ROBIN, JOIN WITH ME. YOU WILL BE ALL POWERFUL, YOU WILL BE A GOD!"

"But-." The Tactician said, thinking of Chrom's last request.

"BUT NOTHING!" The voice shouted back, causing the room to shake. "YOU WERE MEANT FOR POWER, FOR GREATNESS! NOW JOIN WITH ME AND FULFILL YOUR DESTINY, JOIN WITH ME AND BECOME WHO YOU WERE ALWAYS MEANT TO BE. THE FELL DRAGON, GRIMA!"

The tactician sank to his knees utterly defeated. There was nothing he could do. His life was effectively over. He looked in to what he thought would be his future and saw only hatred and loneliness. That was no life to live. But was giving himself to the fell dragon any better? Was becoming Grima really the answer?

The tactician rose to his feet, his decision made.

"Fine." His voice was quiet and dead in defeat. "I'll do it. I'll become Grima."

The voice suddenly burst out in victorious laughter. It was deafening.

"GOOD CHOICE. NOW PREPARE YOURSELF BECAUSE, THIS IS GOING TO HURT."

A dark mist formed around the tactician snaking its way over his body. The tactician sank to his knees in agony. His mind burning as he felt himself slipping away. Losing control of himself. His eyes turned red and pupils turned in to dragon- like slits. His body began to emit dark magic scorching the ground beneath him. As the last of the tactician's mind began to disappear, his last thoughts were.

"I was tricked, I am not becoming Grima, Grima is becoming me."

With that, what was left of the tactician finally died.

The tactician, Robin was gone. The Fell Dragon Grima was reborn.


	2. Chapter 1: Second Meeting

**Fire Emblem Awakening: Defying Destiny**

**Second Meeting**

Darkness was everywhere. The man was all alone in the blackness of his own mind. He felt as if he was a non-existent object in the scheme of greater things. He wasn't even sure if he was alive.

"Chrom, we - we have to do something!" A loud, obnoxious young woman's voice broke through the veil of darkness bringing the man into the light.

"Gods, five more minutes, please." The man thought. "Aah, my head feels like it's been in a vice. And that girl isn't helping any."

"What do you suppose we do?" This time the speaker was male, his voice surprisingly calming, yet vaguely familiar.

"Wait, I know that voice." He thought yet he couldn't quite recall from where.

"I-I dunno." The female replied again. Both speakers were unaware the man was beginning to steer. They turned back to him as he opened his eye and smiled in relief to see that the man they had discovered was awake and unharmed. Both leaned in closer to him, smiles on their faces.

The man looked up at the people above him and took in their features. Before him were a young man and woman. The male had blue hair and was wearing blue, leather armour. He was also sporting a metal shoulder guard and a white cape. A sword was strapped to his hilt. The words "show off" came to the man's mind for a second. His female companion looked a few years younger. She had long blond hair, done up in pig tails. She wore a cute yellow dress and an apron. She was holding what appeared to be some kind of staff; she was also a little short.

"I see you're awake now." The blue haired man said to him.

"Hey there" The blonde girl said with a slight blush and a smile.

"There are better places to take a nap then on the ground you know. Give me your hand." The blue haired man said, offering his hand. The man took it without really thinking, briefly taking note of the strange purple mark on the back of his own hand, as he was pulled from the ground.

"You all right?" The blue haired man asked.

"Y-yes…Thank you, Chrom." The man replied. Shock struck the man. "Wait how do I know his name!? I've never met this man."

The blue haired man looked just as surprised as he did.

"Ah, then you know who I am?" suspicion clear in his voice.

The man was taken aback, how did he know him?

"No, actually, I…It's strange…Your name it just…came to me…" he explained confusing himself

Chrom looked over the man in front of him with caution.

"…Hmm, how curious." He finally said. "Tell me. What's your name? What brings you here?" He asked with a raised eye brow.

The man racked his brain, looking for his name.

"My name is…It's…" Panic surged through the man, "How do I know this man's name but not my own?" He thought desperately.

Chrom gave a questioning look.

"You don't know your own name?" he asked

The man reached in to the pockets of the cloak he was wearing, looking for anything that might tell him who he was. While doing so he realised he didn't even know where he was.

"I'm not sure if…I'm sorry, but where am I, exactly?"

Chrom's female companion gave a look of realisation

"Hey, I've heard of this!" she cried "It's called amnesia!"

"It's called a load of Pegasus dung."

The new voice caused the man to look to Chrom's right, for the first time taking in his surroundings. He realised that he was standing in the middle of a field. How had he come to be here? The man's eyes finally came to rest on the source of the disturbance.

The new speaker was rather tall man in a knight's blue armour. The armour looked extremely well kept; it was polished and was shining like the sun. It looked so clean that the man bet people could eat off it. Behind him was a horse, sporting the same colour armour as its rider, grazing in the field. A spear strapped to its side.

"We're to believe you remember milord's name, but not your own?" The knight continued.

"B-but it's the truth!" The man cried desperately.

Chrom looked at the man's troubled and pained expression, and gave him a sympathetic smile. He turned to the knight and said. "What if it is true, Frederick? We can't just leave him here, alone and confused. What sort of Shepherds would we be then?"

The knight, apparently named Frederick, looked over the man in front of them and let out a sigh.

"Just the same, milord, I must emphasise caution." He told Chrom "It would not be wise to let a wolf into our flock."

Chrom, after listening to Frederick's words, gave another look towards the confused man. He then clapped his hands together and turned back towards Frederick and the girl was with them and said. "Right then- we'll take him back to Southtown and sort this out there."

This took the man aback. Who were these people to decide what he was going to do.

"Wait just one moment." He said rather annoyed, causing the others to turn back to him. "Do I have a say in this?"

Chrom smiled slightly and said. "Peace, friend-I promise we'll hear all you have to say once we make it back to Southtown. Now come."

The man still rather annoyed at the recent turn of events gave a sigh and looked at his current situation. He was a man with no memory, no idea who he was and no idea where he was. These people seemed to be friendly and didn't seem to mean him any harm. It was probably wise to go with them. Even if he still had no idea who they were.

"Ok." He said finally "I'll follow you, lead the way."

The path the group was following was rather long. Chrom and the girl were leading the way, chatting fondly. The man walked behind them arms crossed, picking through his mind, searching for evidence as to who he might be. Bringing up the rear, Frederick led his horse by the reins. The man could feel Frederick's dagger like gaze dig in to his back. The man sighed trying to diffuse the tension. He reached inside his cloak pockets, hoping to find a mirror or some kind of reflective object so that he could at least see what he looked like.

Instead of a mirror, he found a pair of gloves, which he quickly put on, not wanting to look at the strange mark on his hand anymore. He continued to search through his pockets and found something better than he ever could have hoped, a clue to his past. Inside one of the inner pockets of the cloak, he found a tome. It was quite old and looked like it had been well used. The man opened it and skimmed through it quickly. It appeared to be some kind of thunder magic.

If this was in his possession did that mean that he was experienced in the art of magic? Happiness turned to sadness as the man realised that finding this tome had left him with more questions than answers.

Returning the tome to his pocket, he looked towards the still chatting pair in front of him. He decided that talking to these people and getting to know them was better the wallowing in self-pity. He quickened his pace to match Chrom's.

"What will you do with me then?" He said finally catching up them. Looking down he asked, "Am I to be your prisoner?"

This caused Chrom to raise his eyebrows and laugh heartily, making the man to look up in alarm. Once done, Chrom smiled at the man.

"You have nothing to worry about. Once we establish you are no enemy of Ylisse you are free to go."

This brought a smile to the man's face. Then he realised that Chrom had told him where they were.

"Ylisse? Is that where we are then?"

Frederick raised an eyebrow at this.

"You've never heard of the haildom?"

The man put his hands to his head. "I have amnesia, how am I supposed remember the name of where I am if I don't even know who I am?" he mentally cursed.

However Frederick gave a light chuckle.

"Ha! Someone pay the actor. He does play quite the fool!" He said. "The furrowed brow is especially convincing…"

"So he still doesn't believe me. Then again I guess if I were him, I would find myself suspicious too." The man thought.

"Frederick, please."

Chrom's voice brought the man out of his thoughts. It seemed Chrom was defending him. A man that he had only just met who had told him a story that would have even made Frederick's horse scoff! Chrom turned back to the man and gave him a reassuring smile.

"This land is known as the Haildom of Ylisse. Our ruler, Emmeryn, is called the exalt."

He then gestured to the rest of his companions.

"I suppose proper introductions are in order," he said. "My name is Chrom; however you already seem to know that, so I will move on." He then gestured to his female companion. "The delicate one here is my little sister, Lissa"

Lissa suddenly jumped up and down on the ground and pouted.

"Hey, I am not delicate!" She cried rather loudly hurting the man's ears.

"Maybe so, but my ear drums are." The man said rubbing them.

Chrom chuckled slightly at this, and even Frederick gave a sly smile. Lissa however, was not as amused.

"Oh ha-ha! Very funny, you'll pay for that later." She said with a smirk. "Anyway, ignore my brother, he can be a bit thick sometimes." She took on a more of a serious tone. "You're lucky the Shepherds found you. Brigands would've been a rude awakening!"

The man finally asked the question that had been bugging him for a while

"If you are shepherds then where are your sheep? And why are you guarding them in…full armour?"

Both Chrom and Lissa gave each other mischievous looks and turned back to him. Chrom simply chuckled and said.

"It's a dangerous job. Just ask Frederick the Wary over there." He gestured to Frederick

Fredrick's posture seemed to improve at Chrom's words.

"Tis a title I wear with pride," he said. "Gods forbid one of us keep an appropriate level of caution." He turned towards the man. "I have every wish to trust you, stranger, but my station mandates otherwise."

The man gave a quick nod. "I understand sir. I would do no less myself."

Without thinking the man turned back towards Chrom and said "My name is Robin."

Everyone was silent for a moment until "Robin" suddenly beamed with excitement. He had remembered his name. He had discovered something about himself. If he had remembered this then maybe he could remember the rest of his life.

"I just remembered that, I suppose that's one mystery solved."

Lissa came over and gave Robin a quick hug, beaming happily. "That's great Robin, I'm sure that you will get the rest of your memories back soon."

Chrom just smiled at the scene.

"Robin? Is that foreign? … Ah well. We can discuss it later."

With that the group continued on their way to Southtown. The only difference now was that Robin was happily chatting with Lissa and Chrom.

They were approaching a hill and so far nothing had gone wrong.

Chrom took notice where they were and began to tell Robin.

"We're almost to town. Once we-"

Chrom was interrupted by a loud shriek from Lissa.

"Chrom, look! The town!"

The party turned to where Lissa was pointing. Smoke was rising at a steady rate from over the hill, screams could be heard from where they were. The message was clear. The town was under attack.

"Damn it! The town is ablaze!" Chrom cried in fury. "Those blasted brigands no doubt…"He turned towards his sister and loyal knight.

"Frederick, Lissa! Quickly!"

Frederick gestured towards Robin.

"What about him?" He said referring to Robin's situation.

"Unless he's on fire as well, it can wait!" Chrom replied impatiently.

"Let's go already!" Lissa cried, panic showing on her face.

With that, Chrom and Lissa began running towards the village. Sighing heavily, Frederick, mounted his steed and took off after them. All that remained of what had been their group was Robin, who had been left behind, clearly forgotten in the heat of the moment.

"Don't worry!" He called after them in a rant. "I'll find my own way. I just have amnesia and have no idea where the hell I am! I'll be fine here on my own!"

With that Robin began to walk away. But his guilt stopped him. Chrom and Lissa had been nice to him and had believed his tale when Frederick and probably anyone else wouldn't have. He turned back to face the way the three had headed. He reached in to his pocket and pulled out the tome. Opening it, he looked at the words of the incantation. They seemed rather simple and easy to learn. He looked at a nearby tree and a thought came to mind. He raised his right arm towards it, still holding the tome open in his left. Thinking of the words, he closed his eyes and waited. He heard a crackle and felt something form in his hand.

Robin opened his eyes to see he was holding a small sphere of weak electrical energy. He chuckled at his accomplishment before sending the attack towards the tree. The electricity hit its mark, leaving the tree singed.

Robin put the Tome back into his cloak and ran after his new friends.

They had helped him, now it was his turn to return the favour.

**Authors note: Hi guys, hope you enjoyed the second chapter. I realise it's lacking in action, but the scene has been set for the next chapter where Robin's fighting and tactical skills will be discovered. Thanks again for everyone's support. Please keep leaving your reviews, I really appreciate it. See you soon.**


	3. Chapter 2: To win the trust of others

**Hey guys. The last chapter was a little weak for my taste and didn't turn out the way I planned. Hopefully this one is a better standard.**

**Fire Emblem Awakening: Defying Destiny **

**To win the trust of others**

Robin ran as fast as his legs could carry him towards the burning remains of Southtown. The screams of the citizen's only motivated him to run faster.

"Come on Robin, hurry up!" He thought "Chrom and the others may need my help!"

As Robin reached the outskirts of Southtown, he noticed Lissa kneeling down by some fallen rubble, waving her staff over someone who appeared to be injured. That must mean she's a healer, Robin made a quick mental, before hurrying over to her to see if he could be of any help.

"Lissa!" He cried, catching the girl's attention.

"Robin!" she cried happily. "Glad to see you could make it." She turned her attention back to the man she was healing. "Now hold still. I'll have you fixed up in a jiffy."

"Th-thank you, mi-milady." Was all the man could muster.

Robin looked from Lissa to the man and back to Lissa again. She was needed here, but Robin knew there wasn't a lot that he could do. However maybe he could help Chrom. Robin looked around, now that he thought about it, where was Chrom?

"Lissa, where's Chrom?" He asked.

"He's with Frederick in the market place by the church." She said, pointing down the road. "The main group of brigands are attacking there."

Robin nodded.

"Ok, I'm going to help them." He told her pulling out his tome and looked around. "Stay here, there doesn't appear to be any brigands around, so it should be safe for the moment."

Lissa looked from the tome to Robin and smiled, despite the situation they were in.

"Ok but you keep yourself safe to. I still owe you payback from before."

Robin gave a quick chuckle and pulled up the hood of his cloak.

"Yeah can't die before that happens."

With that Robin turned, tome in hand, and ran towards the market place in order to meet up with Chrom.

On his way to join up with Chrom, Robin couldn't help but wonder if he would actually be of any help. Due to his amnesia, he had no idea if he could actually fight; as far as he knew he had no battle experience prior to being found in the field. Not to mention the fact that he might just find himself getting in the way.

All of a sudden Robin felt something strike him in the chest, and found himself thrown back a few metres. Robin looked to where he had been before being sent flying. There stood two men. One appeared to be a seasoned barbarian. He wore nothing on his chest and was wearing a pair of red leggings. An animal's fur coat hung from his shoulder like a cape. He was wielding a two-handed iron sword. The other man was entirely different. He was shorter and wore mages robes with a ridiculous hat to complete the set. A green tome was in his left hand, his right raised directly at Robin.

"So what have we got here then?" The fighter had a strange accent and spoke in a mocking tone. "Another goody-goody?"

"It appears so." His companion said in the same accent. "Although this one doesn't look nearly as tough."

"Then this should be as easy as stealing candy from that baby."

"I agree."

Both men laughed as they approached the struggling Robin, as he rose from the ground. Just as Robin got back up on to his feet, the man in fur hoisted him up by the scruff of his neck and pinned him up against the nearby wall of a burning building, the man's sword at his throat .

"What have you got so say for yourself now…boy?" He asked, a crooked smile plastering his face.

Robin grimaced as he struggled to free himself from his attackers grip. Finally he stopped struggling and looked the man in the eyes.

"Just this." He said with a weak smile. "Checkmate"

The Brigands had no idea what Robin was talking about. All of a sudden the barbarian's back suddenly exploded, sending blood flying as a thunder spell was sent though him from close range. He released Robin and collapsed to the floor. Dead.

The mage, now covered in the blood of his companion, looked at Robin with fury.

"Hey, you dastard! That was my-hmf." The Mage was cut short by Robin stabbing him with the dead brigand's sword. He fell to the floor, alongside his fellow trouble maker.

Robin took some steps back from the men he had just killed. He was horrified, had he really just killed them. And what's more it didn't seem to bother him as much as he had thought it would. That either meant that he had a ridiculously strong stomach or he had killed men before. His thoughts were cut short by the sounds of battle that were coming from up ahead. Gathering himself, he took the sword he had claimed and the sheath for it from the man he had just killed and continued on his way to the market place.

Robin arrived to quite a scene. The market was a wreck. Bodies (brigand and citizen alike) littered the ground. He looked around for any sign of Chrom. He noticed a large group of brigands, all wearing the same outfit the brigand from earlier had, conversing near the church.

"That looks like a good place to start." He said to himself.

Brandishing his new sword, Robin ran in to the fray, taking on brigand after brigand as he passed them. Robin was surprised to find that the sword felt natural in his hands, as if he had done this hundreds of times before. Without dwelling on it too much, Robin continued his assault until he spotted Chrom and Frederick. They seemed indestructible. Both men were deflecting blows and striking back, twice as hard. Chrom seemed to have worked up quite the sweat, but Frederick had barely broken one. From the top of his horse Frederick was able to fend off any enemy attack without worry and with a swing of his spear, his enemies fell. Something that astounded Robin even more was the fact the Fredericks armour was still absolutely spotless. Not one single drop of blood or speck of dirt stained his armour.

As Robin approached Chrom he noticed that a mage was hiding in the shadows, crouching near one of the piles of rubble. The mage was looking directly at Chrom and appeared to be casting some kind of variation of Robin's own thunder magic.

Robin, in order to save his new friend, quickly brought out his own tome and fired a blast of thunder at the mage, striking him in the head, killing him instantly.

Chrom, noticing the mage's death, swung around with his sword raised ready to strike. Robin, only just paring the blow with his own sword.

"Wait!" Robin exclaimed, not wanting to die after getting this far.

"Robin!" He cried "You followed us! Why?"

"Well…I'm honestly not certain myself." He admitted. "But I'm armed and it appears that I know my way around a fight, also the expression strength in numbers comes to mind.

Chrom smiled and gave a nod.

"If that is true then we will be glad to have you. Just stay close."

With that, Chrom turned around and continued on with his assault. Frederick gave Robin a quick nod and followed on at Chrom's heels.

Robin ran after them, using his thunder tome to take out any long ranged attackers that were hiding away on the tops of the buildings.

Robin looked around him. There were far too many Brigands to take on their own. But if they were to work together…

"Chrom, Frederick, pull back to me!" he cried.

Both men turned to look at him with confused looks.

"Why?" Chrom enquired.

"If we take on this many men each on our own, we stand no chance as they will surround us." Robin explained. "If each of us watches the other's back, then not only will we be safer but it will also improve our strength, defence and our speed. We will make short work of these brigands.

Both men gave Robin a questioning look.

"I seemed to have studied this somewhere, but I can't exactly remember where."

Chrom nodded and smiled at his logic whilst Frederick just gave a nod of recognition.

"A wise idea, stranger, this does not mean that I believe your tale but it is a wise idea none the less." Frederick finally told him, getting into the formation Robin had specified. Robin grinned from ear to ear as he couldn't believe what he had just heard. Frederick the Wary had actually just complemented him.

"Thank you O wary one." Robin joked, as Chrom stood where he was supposed to. "I shall aim to please you more often."

Frederick merely sneered and continued on with the battle. For the next few minutes, Robin, Chrom and Frederick worked together, dispatching anyone who came their way. Soon all that remained of what had been the brigands was their leader.

Unlike his soldiers, the leader wielded an axe instead of a sword and had a well-made fur cloak.

He looked at the men approaching him with a menacing grin.

"Here, sheepy sheepy!" He mocked in an even deeper accent than the rest of his soldiers. "Come to the slaughter."

Chrom looked surprised upon hearing the man's accent. He then raised his sword towards the brigand.

"Frederick!" He called back to the knight.

"Yes milord"

"Go and check on Lissa, bring her here afterwards. This will be over soon."

Frederick looked a little unsure upon hearing this, but obeyed regardless.

"Yes milord, as you wish."

With that Frederick was gone, off to perform his task. Chrom then spoke to Robin.

"Shall we then?" he asked with a smile.

Robin gave a quiet chuckle and gave a nod.

"We shall." He said raising his own sword.

With that Chrom and Robin charged forward, taking on the brigand. The men found their strikes falling in perfect harmony with each other as they took turns striking at the brigand, who by now was not looking nearly as cocky as he had at the start of the battle. Things seemed to be going well, until the brigand leader managed to dodge one of Chroms blows, causing the man to misstep and fall to the ground. The brigand gave a victorious laugh knocking Robin away with the butt of his axe and running over to where Chrom lay, placing his boot on his back preventing him from rising.

"Say goodbye sheepy-sheepy!" The man cried raising his axe, ready to bring it down upon the blue haired man.

"Checkmate!"

The brigand leader turned, only to be impaled in the chest by Robin's sword. The brigand looked at the sword and then took a few steps back, the sword still in his chest. With a groan the brigand fell backwards, into the river that flowed through the town.

Robin ran over to Chrom who had only just risen from the ground.

"You alright?" He asked Chrom in concern

"I'm fine, thanks for the assist" Chrom replied, offering his hand.

"Well I couldn't let you die." Robin said, taking Chrom's hand and shook it. "I don't even want to imagine what Frederick would have done to me if anything had happened to you."

"No, you don't." Came a voice from behind them.

Robin turned to find Frederick had returned from his task, Lissa at his side.

"It's lucky for the town that we were close by when this happened." The young girl said. "It could have been a lot worse." She suddenly turned to Robin and exclaimed, "But holy wow, Robin! You were incredible! Frederick told me about what you did and we watched the end of that battle! Swords, Sorcery, AND strategy! Is there anything you can't do?"

Chrom nodded. "Yes, you're certainly no helpless victim, that's much is for sure."

"Indeed." Frederick complied. Perhaps you might even be capable of an explanation for how you came here?"

Robin suddenly looked rather sad.

"I understand your scepticism, Sir Frederick. However I am still unable to explain why only some knowledge has returned to me. However please believe me, I have shared all that I know."

Chrom put a reassuring hand on Robin's shoulder.

"You have fought to save Ylissean lives. My heart says that's enough."

"And your mind milord, will you not seek its council as well?" Frederick asked.

Chrom shook his head.

"Frederick, the Shepherds could use someone with Robin's talents. We've brigands and unruly neighbours, all looking to bloody our soil. Would you have us lose such an able tactician?" He asked Frederick. "Besides, I believe his story, odd as it might be."

Robin was happier than his words could say. "Th-thank you, Chrom."

"So, will you join us Robin?" Chrom asked him.

Robin smiled widely and nodded.

"I would be honoured"

"Hooray" Lissa cheered as she hugged Robin.

The mini celebration was cut short by Frederick.

"Did you notice, milord?" He asked addressing Chrom. "The brigands spoke with a Plegian accent."

Robin was intrigued.

"Plegian? What's that?"

"Plegian is Ylisse's westerly neighbour." Chrom explained. "They send small bands into our territory, hoping to instigate war."

"And it's the poor townsfolk who suffer!" Lissa cried sadly.

"They do have us, milady: Shepherds to protect the sheep." Fredrick stated "Do not be swept by anger as it will cloud your judgement."

As Frederick finished one of the villagers ran over to the group, a covered object under his arm.

"Milord, please!" he cried "You must stay the night! We may be simple towns folk but please let us present you with a feast in your honour."

Robin was ecstatic. A feast, that's going to be great, I'm so hungry I could eat a horse. However Frederick brought the newly appointed tactician out of his thoughts.

"A most generous offer, sir, however we must sadly decline." He said. "We must make haste to Ylisstol."

Lissa however appeared to have not heard.

"Dark meat for me, Medium well, and no salt in the soup. I simply-."She stopped after realising what Frederick had just said. "Wait, what?!" She cried. "We're not staying?! But, Frederick, it's nearly dark!"

Frederick turned to the girl and merely smiled.

"When night falls, we'll camp and eat off the land, make our bed of twigs and enjoy each other's company." The knight proclaimed

"Frederick, sometimes I hate you."

Chrom and Robin couldn't contain there laughter. They earned themselves a stern glance from Lissa. As Robin composed himself, the villager turned to him.

"Well then, if you can't except our hospitality, please except this." He said, handing Robin the wrapped object. "I noticed that you lost your sword when that brigand fell into the river. This should make a fine replacement."

Robin opened the object to find a lovely looking sword with a green hilt.

"That is an Arms Blade." The villager explained. "Please take it. It is the least we villagers can do."

Robin was shocked.

"Th-thank you." He said sheathing the sword.

The villager bowed and ran off. With that Frederick turned to the others and said, "Shall we go then?"

Chrom nodded.

"Alright, alright." He said. "C'mon lets go."

With that, the group left Southtown and continued down the road to Ylisstol.

However they were unaware that someone was watching them.

A figure, wearing the same clothes that Robin wore, was watching them from one of the nearby buildings. Their cloaks hood covered their features so that all you could see was two tufts of long brown hair. The figure watched the group as they left Southtown. Specifically they watched Robin.

"I have finally found him." The figure said. "However, father will not like these turn of events."

**Authors note: Hey guys that's the third chapter done with. I hope it was better than the second chapter. As always please leave your reviews as I enjoy the feedback. Also I won't be able to write another chapter for two weeks due to exams. Wish me luck. See you soon. **


	4. Chapter 3: Everything changes part 1

**Authors note: Hi! I'm back after my exams and have a new extra-long chapter for you. Took me ages to write. After this, I am hoping to post every week or so, whenever I feel the need to be creative. By the way, I do not own Fire Emblem or any of the characters in it other than the OC's that will appear later in the story. Also, I'm going to try something to show a passage of time or a change in location. It looks like this (…). Hope you enjoy!**

**Fire Emblem Awakening: Defying Destiny**

**Everything changes part 1**

"Mmm… It's been too long since I last had bear meat. Delicious!" Chrom happily stated as he chewed his meal.

It had been a few hours since the battle in Southtown.

Night had soon fallen after leaving the town and Robin and the others had decided to make camp for the night in a small copse of trees, much to the happiness of Lissa who had been complaining about something or other the entire journey. Chrom had finally caved in when she started complaining about the bugs. Once they had found a decent spot Chrom ordered Frederick to collect some fire wood with Lissa whilst he and Robin went hunting, much to Frederick's disappointment, Chrom was trusting a man he had only met that day to go hunting with instead of his faithful knight. Despite what Robin had done to aid them that day, Frederick still did not completely trust him.

Either way Lissa and Frederick were able to collect a bounty's worth of fire wood, which Frederick took great pleasure in lighting. It scared Robin to see the normally composed knight smiling maniacally as he lit the wood.

Chrom and Robin had had a rather successful hunting experience, catching a rather large and fat bear. The bear had come out of nowhere and had attacked Chrom from behind. Robin, at the last moment saved him, by using his new trusty arms blade to slay the beast by piercing its heart. Once the pair had finally managed to drag their catch back to the others they were greeted with mixed reactions. Both Frederick and Lissa were surprised when Chrom and Robin re-entered the camp hauling a bear as their kill and congratulated them for it, but both of them seemed to eye the bear with disgusted glances. Regardless, the bear was skinned and cooked by the joint efforts of Frederick and Chrom.

The group was now sitting around the fire eating their portions of bear. Well to be more precise, Chrom and Robin were the eating their portions. Lissa had only taken a few nibbles and was grimacing at her food and Frederick hadn't even touched his.

Chrom noticed his sister's face and decided to question her on it.

"What's wrong, Lissa? Dig in."

Lissa gave a loud groan. "Pass!" She exclaimed putting down her food. "Gods, why couldn't you spear us an animal normal people eat for once?"

"Well it was all we could find and technically the bear found us. If it hadn't been for Robin the bear would have eaten me for dinner instead of the other way round." Chrom calmly replied.

Lissa pouted. "I know, but I mean, come on! Who eats bear?! You're meddling with the food chain." She turned to Robin for support. "Right Ro-." She stopped when she found that her new friend was pigging out on his portion of bear meat like his life depended on it, in fact he had almost finished.

Chrom couldn't help but smile at the sight of Robin lousy table manners, even Frederick gave a sly smile as Robin stuffed his face. Lissa sighed. "I suppose a person would enjoy just about anything after not eating for days…"

Chrom shook his head in exasperation, fed up of his sister's complaining. "Just eat it Lissa. Meat is meat." He said.

"Since when does meat smell like old boots?!" Lissa exclaimed, making some of the birds around them fly from their perches. Robin, who was just finishing off his meat when Lissa had cried out dropped his food in surprise and it hit the floor. He looked at it sadly, tears practically in his eyes. Lissa just continued with her rant "Wait I take it back- old boots smell better!"

Frederick decided to give a small lecture.

"Every experience makes you stronger, milady. Even those we don't enjoy." He said calmly.

Lissa gave Frederick a sly look and pointed to his portion of bear. "Really?" she said in her best sweetest voice. "Then why don't I see YOU eating, Frederick?"

Frederick gave a rather embarrassed smile for having been caught out by the young girl making both Robin and Chrom snigger.

"Me? Oh, well…" The knight started trying to come up with an excuse. "I'm-I'm not hungry." He finally said. "I…I had a large lunch! Yes, quite."

"Yeah right, Frederick!" Lissa cried.

"Excuse me?" Robin chimed in, causing both individuals to look at him. "But if you aren't going to eat can I have your portions?" He asked hope evident in his eyes.

Lissa sighed. "Sure." She said giving Robin her portion which he was quick to take breathlessly thanking her. "Geez, Robin how can you eat that, it's disgusting?"

Robin spoke through mouthfuls whilst knocking his head. "Amnesia, remember? I have nothing to compare it to so for all I know this could either be the most delicious thing I have ever eaten or the biggest bunch of crap."

This caused the entire group, even Frederick, to laugh.

"At least it appears that I have a good sense of humour." Robin thought to himself. He looked around the small group. Everyone there was a good person. He knew that he was lucky to have met them.

The group continued to chat for a little bit until Frederick went to check on his horse, which he had left to graze by some trees. Robin asked him why he didn't tie its reins to the tree, but Frederick simply glared at Robin and claimed that it would not leave its master as it was a faithful animal. "Like rider, like horse." Robin had muttered under his breath. Soon everyone began to grow sleepy. Lissa was the first to fall asleep and Frederick soon followed, having been ordered by Chrom to get some rest. That soon left Chrom and Robin. The two continued their conversation for a few minutes until Robin decided to ask Chrom about his sword. During the battle in Southtown, Robin had noticed that Chrom's sword was unique and seemed to be rather special.

"Chrom, can I ask you something?" He asked

"Of course, Robin, what do you want?"

"It's about your sword."

"Oh?" Chrom said with a raised eyebrow, his hand slightly shifting towards the hilt of his sword in a protective manner.

Robin noticed his friend's movement and put his hands up in an offended manner.

"Relax, I just wanted to ask about it, it seems to be quite special."

Chrom seemed reassured and smiled unsheathing his sword to show to Robin. "This is Falchion." His voice sounded very proud. "It is the divine blade that the Hero King Marth used to slay the fell dragon almost a millennia ago, in times of great strife it is said that Naga herself will grant blade and wielder power in order to defeat their enemy, however there is a condition to be met that only the exalt knows." Chrom explained happily to his friend, a hint of bashfulness in his voice.

"If the exalt is the only one who knows the secret of that sword then you must know her quite well for her to allow you to wield it." Robin replied, admiring the sword. It was a golden double-edged sword with a gap near the hilt, the hilt itself was designed in red cloth and could be used in two hands or one. On the top of the hilt was a golden cap. It completed the whole regal look, in Robin's opinion. "It sure does look nice." Robin stated.

"Yes it does." Chrom replied with a smile. "And only I can use it." He said smugly.

"What do you mean?" Robin asked curiously.

"Never mind I will tell you some other time, maybe." Chrom teased knowing that it would bug Robin until he told him his secret.

"Oh come on, Chrom." Robin pleaded. "Pretty please."

Chrom laughed quietly so as not to wake the others.

"That's just pathetic you know. C'mon lets go to sleep." He said. And with that he laid his body down and went to sleep and began to snore.

Robin chuckled and laid himself down too and faced the starry sky for what seemed to him like hours.

"So, this is my new life?" He thought. "Looks like fun. Now if only I can get Chrom to tell me what he meant." Robin grimaced. "Grr… this is gonna bug me for ages." Robin was about to fall asleep when he heard a twig snap from within the barrier of trees around them. Robin's heart missed a beat. He jumped to his feet and unsheathed the arms blade from his side, questioning whether to wake the others or if he was just being paranoid. Everything was silent for a few moments. Robin breathed a sigh of relief. It was nothing. He was just being stupid. He was about to go back to sleep when a figure stepped out from the darkness. Robin let out a gasp. "So there had been someone!" he thought. "Who are they? Brigands looking for revenge from earlier?"

The figure did not move nor reveal itself. It seemed to be wearing a hood so their face was obscured.

"Who are you?!" Robin demanded. "Show yourself!"

The figure finally stepped out of the darkness revealing it's features. The figure in front of Robin seemed to be identical to him at this moment. Other than the two tufts of long brown hair. The figure wore exactly the same clothes that Robin did, all the way down to the shoes on his feet and the cloak on his back. The figure raised its arm and beckoned Robin forward.

"If you wish to know who you are, then follow me." The voice was flat but feminine.

"That answers one question then." Robin thought to himself in shock. "But can I trust what she is saying, does she really know who I am?" Something about the female seemed to calm him for some reason. Like they had met before.

"How do I know I can trust you?" He asked the female, but she had already retreated into the darkness.

Robin was torn. On the one hand this may be his one and only chance to learn who he was, on the other it could be a trap. "Oh what the hell" He thought to himself running after the mysterious girl sword in hand in case of danger. "I get the feeling I'm going to regret this."

(…)

Chrom woke with a start. Something seemed off to him. There seemed to be a slight chill in the air and around him there was little noise other than the light snoring of his sister. The fire seemed to have died long ago. However Robin was missing.

"Robin!" He cried, hopping off the ground to search for his friend. "Robin!" he cried again desperately. He looked over the area around the camp and felt for his sword, nothing but Robin seemed to be missing, meaning that he hadn't betrayed them. "Best take a look around." He began to walk away when his sister began to stir. Lissa got up and rubbed her eyes with a yawn. She turned towards her brother, who looked like a child caught doing something naughty.

"What's wrong, Big Brother?" Lissa asked sleepily.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you, but… Something is amiss… Robin seems to have wandered off" Chrom told Lissa worriedly.

Lissa gasped and looked around, confirming what Chrom had told her.

"ROBIN!" She cried out. "ROBIN!"

Frederick woke, grabbing his lance as he did so. "Milord, Milady what's wrong?!" He asked. "Are we under attack?"

"Frederick it's terrible!" Lissa cried. "Robin's gone missing."

"What!" Frederick exclaimed in surprise. "That no good dastard, I knew he couldn't be trusted."

"Frederick!" Chrom shouted at him. "Don't jump to any conclusions just yet. There has to be a reason why Robin ran off."

"Yeah, there has to be!" Lissa chimed in. "He doesn't seem like the kind of person to leave his friends!"

Chrom nodded. "Exactly." He confirmed. "Let's split up and look for him. Frederick you head that way." He pointed to the left. "You will be faster on your own with your horse."

Frederick nodded and bowed "Of course milord." With that he mounted his horse and headed out the way he had been told.

After he left Chrom turned back to Lissa. "You and me will head this way." He said gesturing to the right. "Let's hope we find him."

Lissa nodded and grabbed her staff. "Ok let's go."

(…)

Robin proceeded further into the woods, trying to locate the mysterious woman who claimed to know his past. He had lost her trail and was beginning to get annoyed.

"First she tells me to follow her, then she just vanishes." He thought to himself frustrated, silently cursing the woman under his breath. He looked around the area he was in one last time. Nothing.

"Grr... this is pointless!" He was exhausted from lack of sleep. "I should just head back to the others. Get some rest." He was about to head back the way he had come when a voice stopped him in his tracks.

"I thought you wanted to know your past?"

Robin wheeled around, arms blade in hand ready to strike, only to find that the woman had seemingly materialised behind him.

"Well it would be helpful if you hadn't run off." He said with a sigh, lowering his sword but not sheathing it. Robin eyed the girl with suspicion. He was definitely feeling nostalgia, he was certain he had known this person in the past. "Who are you?" He asked, trying to sound friendly.

The female however took a step back, as if someone had struck her around the face. "You really don't remember?" She asked, sadness seemed to flood her voice.

Robin shook his head. "I am truly sorry." Despite being hooded, Robin could tell that she was trying to fight back tears as her body was trembling. "Why don't you tell me who you are? It may help me remember." Robin asked, trying to comfort her.

The woman lifted her head and her eyes seemed to meet Robin's from beneath the hood.

"No."

"What?" Robin asked confused.

"I said no!" The woman cried. "You must prove yourself in combat if you wish to know your past!" She reached in to her cloak and pulled out a tome similar to Robin's but something seemed off. Robin could sense a strange power emanating from it. Robin sheathed his sword drew his own tome from his pocket, ready for the oncoming assault.

The woman began to chant an incantation.

"Oh holy thunder, hear my cry, come to me now in this time of need, to protect and defend me, to be my blade. Come to me now heroic bolt, `Supirion!"

Suddenly electrical energy sparked through the area striking the tome. Robin stared in awe as the tome disappeared and in its place a sword of pure electrical energy.

"Wha-how did you do that?" He exclaimed, awestruck.

"You should know. After all you are the one who taught me." The female replied grasping what appeared to be the hilt of the energy weapon.

"I-I did?" Robin wracked his brain looking for the memories she claimed he had. He found nothing, much to his dismay. "Damn! Wish I could remember how to do that." He chuckled

"Shut up." The woman said angrily, pointing her weapon at Robin. "Now, prepare to fight!"

Robin sighed and readied his tome. "Alright. Come at me."

The woman did not reply. She simply lunged towards Robin, swinging her sword. Robin blocked it with a blast of his thunder tome. But the woman kept on swinging making it extremely hard for Robin to block. If it kept up, this girl was going to break through his defences. He needed to turn the tables on this situation and quickly. But how could he? Due to her unrelenting assault all he could do was block. If the sheer force and speed of the attacks weren't enough, this woman wasn't leaving many openings either. However, fortunately for Robin, the woman's fighting style was almost a copy of his own, she was just adding a few individual touches. That meant that if he knew his style of sword fighting as well as he thought he did, amnesia or no, then she would...

The woman jumped in to the air, raising Supirion above her hooded head.

"Perfect!" Robin thought. Using what energy he had left, he dashed out of the way of the attack ending up behind the girl as she and her sword came crashing down. Not wasting any time, Robin fired a shot of thunder towards the girl, striking her in the back. The blast had not been very powerful, due to Robin not wanting to hurt her, however it was enough to send her flying several meters. She managed to stay on her feet, but the hood that had been covering her face fell, revealing her features. Robin stared at the girl. She was a young woman around his age, if he knew how old he actually was. Her hair was done up behind her head in pigtails that came down to the base of her neck, in order to keep it out of her eyes. Despite the fact she was currently in combat, her features taut with concentration, she was quite good looking. However it filled Robin with dread to finally see her eyes. They were filled with sadness and hardship; it seemed as if hope had left them completely. Robin wondered what this girl had been through to have eyes like that. But there was something else about her. Tears formed in Robin's eyes, but he had no idea why. Suddenly he doubled over in pain as lightning pierced his brain. Some of his memories flashed before him painfully. Times of him as a young boy, practicing magic and sword skills with a young girl. His twin sister. New memories came to him; times of pain and strife as he remembered the night when they were teenagers, his sister was stolen from the house they had once lived in by strange men. He had never seen her again after that day. Her name had been...

"Vi-Violet?" The name weakly left his lips. "I-I remember you."

The girl stood still. Tears of joy streamed down her face. The electric sword discharging, changed back into the tome it had once been. She ran towards her brother and pulled him into a warm embrace crying into his shirt.

"You-you remember me? That's wonderful, you ha-have no idea how much I've missed you." Violet sobbed.

"C'mon let's head back to the others, I'm sure they will be thrill-"

"No!" Violet cried stepping back from Robin. "You cannot go back to those, people!" she spat the last word. "You will return with me to our master. Once we are back you will be able to return to your training in order to fulfil your destiny."

Robin was confused. "What are you talking about? What master? And what is this destiny you speak of?"

Violet shook her head. "Brother, this is no place to talk, we must make haste back to master or else he will be angry." She began to turn and walk away, but Robin stood his ground.

"No."

Violet stopped mid-step. "What?"

"I said no. Violet, I will not come with you until you tell me what you are talking about."

Violet turned around and begged. "Please Robin; come with me, all will become clear if you just follow."

Robin shook his head. "I can't. Now, I am going to head back my friends. You are welcome to follow me if you want, but either way I'm going with them." Robin began to walk away but now it was Violet's turn to stop him. A bolt of electricity struck near his feet, stopping Robin in his tracks. He turned once again to find Violet holding her tome.

"I'm afraid I cannot let you do that Robin. You are meant for great things and I have orders to bring you back. Now you can either come with me peacefully, or I will have to make you."

Robin glared at his sister. "You can try." He unsheathed the arms blade and held it in one hand. He kept his tome in the other. "Shall we resume where we left off?"

Violet nodded and sent blasts of electricity flying towards Robin, which he managed to skilfully avoid. He raced towards her not stopping for an instant. He swung his blade with speed and accuracy then followed with a blast of thunder from the tome making sure to keep Violet on the defence. He was forced to mix up his moves as he knew that Violet would know his fighting style. He kept swiping the sword, waiting for Violet to slip up. Both siblings lifted their hands at the same time and sent thunder magic towards the other. The blast collided resulting in a explosion that sent both individuals flying back from each other. Robin realised that his current strategy wasn't working; Violet was a worthy opponent. She was able to use the tome to its full potential and she utilised any asset that she could exploit. She knew Robin's plays like the back of her hand, so Robin tried something he hoped she wouldn't see coming. Charging towards her, he sent a blast of thunder at her feet sending dust flying, obscuring him from her. Getting close, Robin decided to take a move from Chrom's playbook. Charging through the dust he barged into her, using his full weight, causing her to stumble and fall to the ground. Robin was over her in seconds pointing his sword at her throat and pocketing his thunder tome. He looked her in the eyes.

"I told you Violet, I'm staying where I am and if you don't like that then I'm sorry."

Violet looked up from the sword to her brother and tears began to fill her eyes.

"Very well, I see your skills are still as impressive as ever, Brother." She hissed the last word, getting up from the floor. Robin made sure not to give her the chance to trick him. "I shall leave you be for now, however when you are ready to admit that you have made the wrong decision, I will find you." She tossed her tome to the floor. "Take that with you. It's yours anyway; it was my last reminder of you other than your teachings. With your memory loss you're going to need it. You may relearn some of your old tricks." Suddenly bright light encircled Violet. "Until next time, Robin." She said sourly as she disappeared.

Robin was left alone inside the clearing. He was disheartened; he had found family and a link to his past and managed to piss her off. Now he had lost her as quickly as he had found her. He sheathed the arms blade and picking up the tome Violet had left him, he quickly flicked through it. The tome was filled with scribbled notes of different spells and incantations. Even though Robin could tell that he was the one who had written the notes, he could not decipher the text. Maybe it was because he had lost his memories that he was no longer experienced enough to read them? Robin pocketed the tome with the other, and turned only to find Frederick and his horse ahead of him.

"What were you doing just now? You look like you have been through hell." he asked

"You don't know the half of it." Robin said with a sigh. "Boy, have I got something to tell you and the others."

Frederick eyed Robin suspiciously, then directed his horse to turn. He gestured for Robin to mount up behind him.

"Very well, milord and lady are currently looking for you. We shall wait for them at the camp. They will want to know that you are safe, they were very worried about you."

Robin nodded and climbed in to the saddle. He was almost thrown off again as the horse galloped through the trees. He grabbed Frederick to keep himself steady, screaming in terror.

(...)

They soon reached the camp. Robin dismounted and quite literally kissed the ground, thanking Naga that he hadn't died on the wretched creature. Fredrick laughed, watching Robin.

"I must say Robin, you seem quite adept in sword play, but you can't handle a small horse ride?"

"Do you have any idea how fast that devil was going? I thought I'd lose my head, we went under so many branches!"

"Do not speak ill of my steed Robin, he is a fine companion."

"Wow! You sure are protective of that horse, aren't you?"

"Gabriel has saved my life many a time, he is a true friend." Frederick proclaimed proudly.

"Gabriel?" Robin sniggered, rising from the ground, brushing the dirt from his knees. "Anyway, we should wait here for Chrom and Lissa, they should return soo- aghh!" A piercing pain shot through his right hand.

"Robin are you alright, sir?!" Frederick asked concerned.

"Yeah, but I have the feeling something terrible is about to happen!" Robin said, wincing as he held his right hand. He could sense the mark beneath the glove was glowing.

"You need to sit down."

"No, we need to find Chrom and Lissa, I think they are in danger!"

Just as Robin spoke those words the ground began to shake. It split open, spewing lava and sending fire shooting into the sky. It was as if hell itself, was trying to fight its way out of the ground.

Both Fredrick and Robin could only stare in horror as the world around them looked set for destruction. Over the tops of the trees they spotted a glowing blue light. Robin could feel it in his very being that Chrom was over there.

"We need to go to that light." He said plainly.

"Pardon?" Frederick replied still in shock.

"Chrom is over there, I can feel it." Robin began running in the direction of the light.

"Robin, I'm coming too!" He heard Frederick call after him. "If milord and lady are in danger then I must reach them as soon as possible!" Robin heard the sound of hoofs then felt Frederick's gauntleted hand grab him by the back of his cloak and hoist him upon Gabriel's back as they hurtled towards the source of the danger.

"Hold on Chrom, Lissa we're on our way!"

**Authors note: Ok guys that's the first half of Everything Changes. Next chapter Robin meets "Marth" and the main pairing will sort of begin. I hope you liked Violet. I worked hard thinking up her personality. As always leave your reviews and I will write soon. Bye!**


	5. Chapter 4: Everything changes part 2

**Authors Note: Sorry about the late chapter. My computer deleted my entire folder with this fan fiction in so I have had to start over from the beginning of this chapter. I hate technology. Anyways enjoy.**

**Fire Emblem Awakening: Defying Destiny**

**Everything changes part 2**

(10 minutes before the earthquake)

"Robin!" Lissa cried once again, looking for her missing friend.

"Robin!" shouted out her brother Chrom. "Where are you?!"

"Chrom, where do you think he went?" Lissa asked him.

"I don't know." Chrom answered his sister with a troubled look on his face. He couldn't understand why Robin would just disappear like that. Even though he had only just met him, Robin had proven himself to be a good friend and a worthy ally. He wasn't the kind of person to up and vanish without saying a word to anyone. So what had made him leave the camp? Did he see an enemy, had he been kidnapped? No, they were alone in the woods; no one was around to do any kidnapping. So what was it?

"Chrom, are you ok?"

Lissa's concerned voice brought Chrom out of his thoughts. He looked down at his little sister to see her anxious face staring back. He gave her a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry about me, I'm fine. Now come on we have an idiot to find."

Lissa smiled happily. "Right!"

The siblings continued their search through the forest. Minutes turned into an hour. They found no sign of Robin. Chrom looked around the moonlit forest. He could barely see a thing through the darkness. This search was going to go nowhere if they couldn't see anything. They should return to the camp.

"Lissa!" He called to his sister

"Yeah!"

"We should head back; it's too dark to see anything right now. Frederick may have had better luck than us."

"But-" She began.

"No buts, I'm not any happier about it than you are, however it is regrettably the sensible thing to do."

"Fine." Lissa said with a sigh.

The two began their walk back in relative silence. In fact it was complete silence.

"Where are the birds?" Chrom thought.

"Chrom."

For the second time that night, his sister brought him out of his thoughts.

"Yes?"

Lissa looked at him and gripped her staff nervously in her hands, then spoke quietly. "Do you think that Frederick was right, about Robin?"

"What!?"

"Well it's just we don't know him very well and he claims not to have any memories, which I strangely believe, but he is able to fight so well and he knows all those tactics. It's just , well, suspicious."

Chrom looked at his sister, then threw his head back and laughed.

"Hey! What's so funny!?" Lissa asked angrily.

"You!" Chrom laughed. "You sound so much like Frederick, it's honestly scary!"

"HEY!" Lissa pouted.

"Besides, I trust Robin. Yes, his story is strange but he has proven himself to me and he has my trust. Robin is not a spy. I know this in my heart. He has saved my life twice today after all."

Lissa turned from her brother and returned to the road smiling. She was relieved; her brother had cast all doubt from her mind about Robin. She put her hand to her chest and sighed. Chrom noticed this and decided to make fun of his sister for a bit.

"Got a soft spot for Robin do you?" He said with a smirk.

Lissa spun round to face Chrom, the wrath of the gods in her eyes. She used her staff to hit Chrom on the head, hard.

"Ow! Lissa!"

"Hmmph! That's what you get." She continued to walk forward, pouting and her face flushed red.

Chrom, smiling quickly caught up with her, deciding to tease her a little more.

"So what do you think of Robin?"

"Well if you must know, I think he is smart, kind, dependable, the kind of person you would want in a fight. Also he is a true friend."

"Sounds like you are smitten with him."

"What!" Lissa aimed her staff at Chrom's head, but he caught it before she could hit him.

"You are not going to hit me with that staff again."

"Fine!" Chrom let go of the staff, allowing Lissa to retract it. Then she kicked Chrom in the shins.

"Lissa!"

"Hey, it wasn't the staff." Lissa stated with a shrug and continued walking.

Chrom chuckled at his "delicate" sister's antics. She would grow up to be a strong woman someday. Chrom began walking after Lissa but stopped after a few steps. Something was wrong. He looked over the tree line towards the horizon.

Lissa, noticing her brother's actions, walked back over to him.

"What's wrong, Chrom?"

"Lissa, can I ask you something?" he said, never taking his eyes off the trees.

"Umm...yeah sure."

"Does something seem off to you?"

"Huh?"

"What I mean is, does anything about the forest seem strange."

"Well, it's dark"

"Funny. Seriously though." He replied annoyed.

Lissa laughed a little. "Well..." she looked around the moonlit area. "Nothing looks weird. But..." She listened out. "Gods, its quiet, like really, really quiet. Hey! Where did all the birds go?!"

Chrom finally turned away from the trees and faced his sister. "We need to get out of here right now." He told her. However as he spoke those words, the ground began to shake uncontrollably, forcing the siblings to hold on to one another in order to stay on their feet.

"Chrom! What's happening!?" Lissa cried out.

"I don't know but- oh gods!"He was looking back towards the trees

"What?!" Lissa followed her brother's gaze and her eyes widened in fear. Before them the trees were toppling over one another, heading towards them.

Chrom, steadying his nerve, knew they needed to move. "Lissa, run." He said, trying to sound calm.

"Huh?"

"I mean it! Go!" He gave Lissa a push to start her running, then with one last look he chased after her. Behind him, the earth rose several meters in the air, spewing lava from a widening crack. Balls of fire shot out as well, only to fall and strike the forest beneath. The forest was soon ablaze, smoke rising steadily from the tops of the trees and the sky bathed orange.

Chrom and Lissa ran as fast as they could, dodging burning trees and projectiles of fire, looking for a place where they would be safe from the hell raining down on them. Lissa was ahead of Chrom, running for her life. Chrom looked around the burning forest and saw an opening to a part as yet untouched by the fires. He quickly caught up to his sister and showed her the opening. The two made a break for it, heading to safety. But as they drew closer, the ground once again split open, blocking their way to salvation.

Chrom looked back at his sister. "Lissa, we have to jump!"

"What, are you crazy!?"

"There's still time, come on!" With that, Chrom sprinted to the edge, leaping from it and falling to the ground beneath, landing with a roll and turning to face the rising ground.

"Chrom, I hate yoooouuuuuu!" Lissa cried as she followed her brother's actions. She closed her eyes, expecting to hit the hard ground. Instead she fell into Chrom's embrace.

Chrom, letting her go, ran towards a clearing in the woods where he believed they would be safe for the time being. Once they had reached it, the two stopped to catch their breath.

"You okay?" He asked kindly. He looked back to see the devastation wreaked upon the forest.

"Ye-yeah, but w-we are never, doing that again!" she told him, her hands on her knees. She looked at her brother, who was still looking at the natural disaster they had been caught in, then towards the orange, moonlit sky. Despite what was happening, the stars still seemed as bright as they had always been. Wait, were they moving?

"Chrom!" she shouted fearfully, pointing to the sky. "What is that?!"

Chrom looked where Lissa was pointing in time to see the lights barrage into one another, resulting in a shockwave that sent leaves flying from their branches and even knocking over some of the trees in close proximity to the shockwave. In place of the lights, a circle of pure energy materialised with magic symbols running around the edge. A smaller circle appeared within the bigger one. Inside was something resembling the eye lid of a reptile. It opened to reveal a shining, blue, crystalline eye. Instead of a pupil, it had a strange opening that looked like a key hole. Chrom felt Lissa move close behind him, probably wondering if she had gone mad. To tell the truth he was wondering the same thing himself. He was about to say something comforting, when the surface of the eye began to ripple. Chrom watched as two dark figures slid out of the eye, and fell twenty feet to the ground.

After getting over the initial shock, Chrom, with Lissa following nervously behind him, trod carefully towards the fallen figures. He was planning to check them, however he stopped upon seeing the two rise from the ground. Their features were obscured by darkness but that didn't stop Chrom's heart from missing a beat. These... things were not human. Their eyes were proof of it for they glowed a blood red. Even in the dark, Chrom could see that in each of the creature's hands lay an axe.

Sensing an oncoming attack Chrom drew Falchion from its sheath and held it in a defensive stance. "Lissa, you better stand back." He told his sister trying to sound braver than he felt.

Lissa nodded and retreated to a nearby boulder. Chrom stood firm, waiting for the creatures to make the first move. They were slow, moving while allowing their limbs to sag. As they moved into the orange moonlight, Chrom was able to see all the features of the creatures. They wore fighters armour and a helmet. Their skin was a clammy grey and it looked as if their arms had been stitched together. On their faces were masks that had sharp teeth, as they opened their mouths, purple mist poured out. They were monsters.

They both stopped a few feet away from Chrom and eyed him curiously. Suddenly one of them released a hellish roar and ran at a great speed towards Chrom. It swung its axe at Chrom, however he was faster. Ducking underneath the hem of the axe, Chrom slashed the creature's side, resulting in more of the purple mist to leave its body. However Chrom gasped as the creature's wound healed itself instantly, leaving more stitches where the wound had once been. The creature then brought back around its axe; however Chrom was only just able to block it. The creature was unimaginably strong and Chrom felt that he would lose his grip at any second. Using his weight to his advantage, he pushed the blades to the side making it safe to barge into the creature knocking it off balance and causing it to fall face first to the floor. Not giving the creature the chance to recover Chrom jumped into the air and brought Falchion down upon the creature, stabbing it in the back. The creature contracted slightly, and then its eyes went dim and disappeared into more of the mist that it had been spewing. Sweat slid down his brow as Chrom regained his breath; however Lissa's scream made him turn to her.

The second creature was slowly walking towards her, its axe at its side. Chrom scrambled to his feet and raced towards his sister. He was so focused on her that he failed to notice another figure emerge from the portal. They burst out from it and landed gracefully on the ground. The figure then made their way towards Lissa and the creature.

The creature raised its axe high above Lissa allowing it to shine menacingly. Lissa closed her eyes, expecting to die, as the creature brought down the axe. Instead she heard the clash of steel as to blades collided. She opened her eyes to see a man with cerulean hair and a mask that went off at four points with slits for eyes that covered the top half of his face, protecting her. The man was using some kind of broad sword, that he was angling around his back, to block the axe. However the creature's strength was too great. The masked man was struggling under the weight of the blow. Grimacing, he turned his head towards Chrom, who had stopped mid run stunned by the sight.

"Help!" he cried.

Regaining his senses Chrom nodded and charged towards the creature, holding Falchion horizontally, yelling a harsh battle cry. Distracted, the creature turned towards Chrom, allowing the masked man to move out from under the axe, spin, and slash through the creatures middle in unison with Chrom. The creature instantly turned into the purple mist that its companion had. After the mist had dematerialised, the masked man sheathed his sword.

Chrom quickly checked on Lissa, she was unharmed but slightly shocked. He gave her a drink from the water pouch he kept on his belt. After doing that, he turned his attention to the masked man that had saved his sister.

He walked closer to the mysterious man. "Quite the entrance." He told him. "What's your name?"

The masked man said nothing and just slightly turned his head towards Chrom. Chrom couldn't make out much about the man who had just saved his sister apart from he wore blue heroes armour with a cape that had red lining on the inside. For some reason he wore a gold diadem in his hair. Chrom was once again brought out of his train of thought by the sound of a galloping horse. He tightened his grip upon Falchion and turned to the noise however relaxed to see that it was Gabriel, Frederick's horse, heading towards them. The steed slowed to a trot allowing Frederick to dismount and rush to his and Lissa's side.

"Milord, Milady are you alright!" He cried looking over the two. "I cannot believe I allowed myself to leave you unattended, if anything had happened I would be solely responsible! Oh gods! I have failed in my service as a knight! I shall leave your presence at once and-"

"FREDERICK!" Chrom cried out in order to be heard. "Listen, me and Lissa are fine. Nothing happened to us and you have not failed in your service, am I understood?"

"Yes, thank you, Milord." Frederick said with a sigh of relief.

"Who's you new friend?"

Chrom and Lissa turned to see Robin standing by Gabriel, smirking.

"Robin!" The two exclaimed with happiness.

"Hey guys." He said with a wave.

"What happened to you?" Chrom asked his friend upon seeing that he was covered in dirt.

"I'll tell you later." Robin told him. "But for now who's he?" He pointed to the masked man.

"We were just about to find out ourselves." Chrom replied turning back to the masked man. "I ask again sir, what is your name?"

The masked man remained silent for a few seconds then looked towards the trees. His face still emotionless, he pointed towards them.

"My name does not matter right now. It seems we have more pressing matters to deal with. The shepherds turned towards where the masked man had indicated. They gasped in horror to see that there were more of the creatures appearing through the trees.

"Are such horrific creatures commonplace in this land?" Robin asked drawing his sword and readying his tome.

"These creatures are not from Ylisse, I can assure you that." Chrom replied moving Falchion into his defensive stance.

"They have no place being in this land!" Frederick proclaimed furiously, mounting Gabriel and reaching for his spear.

The masked man said nothing but he put his hand upon the hilt of his sword.

"Robin, what's the plan?" Chrom asked.

Robin looked around, taking in the enemy numbers and what he believed to be their strength and weaknesses. He quickly formulated a plan.

"Chrom, you, me and masks here are taking point. We will take these things head on. Frederick, you're our rear support. Protect Lissa and kill any of these things that get past us. Lissa be prepared to heal anyone that gets hurt. Does everyone understand?"

"Right." The Shepherds replied, the masked man simply nodded.

"Not much of a talker, is he?" Robin said to Chrom.

Chrom gave a smirk. "Yeah, it appears that I'm attracting all the strange people today

"I take offence to that." Robin said with a chuckle, turning towards their foes. "Alright guys this is going to be hard. We need to work together if we want to survive this battle. If everyone's ready, CHARGE!"

With that Robin, Chrom and the masked man rushed forward, taking on the creature one at a time. They came in sixes charging them. The three managed to keep most at bay while Frederick finished off any stragglers that made it past them. Despite their progress, Robin began to struggle. He wasn't as strong as the creatures and worst of all his magic didn't seem to be working on them. He struggled to keep his balance as he traded blows with the creatures. At one point one of them knocked Robin over with one of its powerful blows, causing him to drop his weapons.

The creature was about to bring down its axe upon Robin, when it stopped. Robin saw the tip of a sword protruding from the creature's chest. The Creature, with one last groan, turned into the similar purple mist its companions had. After the mist had dematerialised Robin saw the masked man sheathing his sword. Was it his imagination or did that sword look like...

The masked man helped Robin off the ground, then walked over to Robin's arms blade and tome and picked them up and thrust them into Robin's arms. He looked at Robin as angrily he could from behind the mask.

"Weak magic such as this will have no effect on these creatures. If you are able to, use something stronger. If not use that swords of your. Always go for the killing blow with these things that is your best hope in defeating them. If you let them overwhelm you, you die. Got it?"

Robin nodded slightly, but looked quizzically at him as if trying to figure out a puzzle. The masked man paid no more attention to Robin and turned with a swish of his cape and returned to the fight. Robin continued to stand where he was. Had he imagined it or had the man's voice been...feminine? A cry from Chrom brought Robin out of his thought. He quickly returned to the fight. Following the masked man's advice, he put away his tome and used the arms blade to slice at the creatures vital parts. He faired a lot better than before and moved from creature to creature, a trail of purple mist left in his wake. However the sheer numbers of the creatures soon had the four shepherds and the masked man overwhelmed.

"Come together, form a defensive circle and defend one another." Robin ordered. The group followed his orders forming the circle with Lissa in the middle. They fought hard taking down as many of the creatures as they could but there were too many. Things were looking grim. As they began to lose hope, a number of arrows struck the creatures around them one after the other. The shepherds looked at each other in confusion. They heard the sound of a galloping horse coming from behind and turned towards it. Heading towards them were two people on horseback. The first person, controlling the horse with one hand, was a red haired woman clad in red armour. She wielded an iron lance in her free hand. She was shouting out rude slurs as they approached. The second was a male archer. He had blue, silvery hair and wore a ruffled shirt he had a bow in one hand and an arrow in the other. A quiver was attached to his side. He called out as they approached.

"Behold! For I Virion, the archest of archers have saved you lives! Feel free to shower me in the praises of-"

"Shut it, Virion we don't have time for your crap!" The female rider exclaimed impaling one of the creatures with her lance. The archer jumped from the horse and did a roll on the ground firing an arrow that went through three creatures that were lined one in front the other.

"You wound me my dear, Sully. I-"

"No! This is wounding you!" The woman, apparently called Sully, brought her mount next to the archer and kicked him in the stomach, with a sly look of satisfaction.

Virion clutched his stomach. "Oh my lady, you strike with the force of a bull, but you are as elegant as the butterfly and- gaah!" Another kick to the stomach.

"I said, CAN IT!" Sully shouted at him.

"Yes madam." Virion croaked in resignation.

Chrom and Lissa ran over to their allies. Chrom called out. "Sully, Virion! It's good to see you!"

Virion gave a nod while Sully dismounted, walked over and punched Chrom in the arm.

"OW!" he cried.

"That's what you get, traitor! Peaceful mission my ass! Look what almost happened to you! That's it! I'm going wherever you go from now on, all the fun happens around you for some reason!"

Chrom took a few steps back and put his hands up in surrender. "Do you really think I try to get into these situations?!"

"Guys, we kind of have more pressing matters right now." Robin interjected. He pointed towards the incoming creatures.

"Who's that?" Sully asked, completely ignoring what Robin's statement, making his jaw drop.

"That's the shepherd's new tactician, Robin. Whatever he says goes." Chrom told the two new members of the group.

"Got it." Sully replied.

"It would be my pleasure." Virion stated.

"Um...ok, thanks. I guess." Robin said with a laugh. Afterwards he looked at the approaching creatures and began to formulate a new strategy. "Ok listen up. Sully, Frederick, use your horses to flank the creatures at the sides and use your spears to utilise hit and run tactics.

The two riders nodded and prepared their lances.

"Ruffles, your job is to thin out their ranks from atop of that boulder. Lissa, stay with him. You should be safe. Be ready to heal anyone who gets hurt."

"Right!" Lissa chimed.

"...Ruffles?" Virion angrily said to himself.

"Chrom and masks, you're taking point. Work together to cut through them."

"What will you be doing?" Chrom asked tightening his grip on Falchion ready for inevitable fight.

"Same as you." Robin told him. "But on my own."

"What?!" The masked man's sudden change in voice surprised the tactician. "That's suicide!"

"Don't worry about me." Robin stated. "I'm tougher than I look."

The masked man still didn't seem satisfied. "No. You fight with Chrom, I'll fight alone." He turned away and looked down. "As it should be." He mumbled so quietly that only Robin heard him.

Robin couldn't help but get a strange feeling whenever he heard the man's voice, his instincts telling him something was not right. Still there were more important things at hand.

"Fine, if that is alright with you." He told the masked man before turning to the others. "Does everyone understand the plan?"

The group responded by showing their weapons.

"Okay then." Robin said with a chuckle, drawing the arms blade. "Sully, Frederick you're up, flank them now."

"Got it! Time to die you mongrels!" Sully exclaimed charging forward, with perhaps too much enthusiasm, closely followed by a sighing Frederick. The two attacked from either side, more purple mist rose towards the dark, orange sky.

"Ruffles, start firing." Robin ordered.

"I will get him back for this." Virion grumbled taking aim.

"Get in line." Lissa muttered under her breath.

Robin turned to the masked man. "Go when you are ready." He responded with a nod. And headed forward into the fray.

Robin, satisfied with what was going on, turned to Chrom. "Shall we?"

Chrom smiled. "Let's."

The two rushed forward, tackling the middle of the horde. They fought hard moving from creature to creature, thinning their ranks with every blow.

As time went on, the shepherd gained the upper hand in the fight. However what impressed everyone was the teamwork between Robin and Chrom. Despite only meeting that day, the two seemed to have already fallen into sync with each other's moves. They both watched each other's backs and made sure that the other was protected. Anyone who didn't know better would have thought that they had known each other for years. When Chrom struck left, Robin struck right. They became a whirlwind of death, cutting through the creatures with ease. Finally there were only a few remaining creatures left. The shepherds regrouped together ready to take on the final force together. That was when they saw it. It was a different kind of creature to the others they had faced. The creature was three feet tall and bore no armour; its skin was soot black with red tattoos that covered its upper torso. Robin could only assume the tattoos were made from blood. It had long scraggly, black hair. Its mask had rows of sharp serrated teeth and its eyes shinned a deeper red then the other creatures. In its hand lay a large rusty axe. It seemed to be in command of the other creatures, showing them where to attack. This was clearly the leader.

Before the shepherds could do anything, the masked man rushed forward, sword drawn. He jumped into the air and raised his sword above his head allowing light to shine of it in the light of the moon. As he brought it down upon the leader however it was too fast. It dogged the blow and knocked the masked man away with the butt of its axe. He hit the floor, hard, his sword scattered across the ground away from him.

"Virion!" Robin exclaimed.

"Of course, I shall strike like the tiger." He proclaimed, lining up his shot. He fired the arrow, aiming for the leaders head. To everyone's shock and horror the creature caught it with his free hand and threw it to the ground.  
"...Ki...ki...kill!"

The shepherds were stunned.

"Did that thing just...talk?!" Sully asked in shock.

"...Kill!" The leader screamed once more, raising its axe.

"NOOOO!" Robin cried dashing forward. He knew he wouldn't make it and that his magic wouldn't work on the leader, however he wasn't about to let someone die on his watch without a fight. He reached for his tome. Grabbing it, he pushed the tome out in front of him, pooling his mana, trying to make the spell as powerful as possible. The tome glowed extremely bright but to Robin's horror nothing happened. "No!" he cried again in desperation tears streaming down his face. Suddenly dark thunder clouds formed above the shepherds heads. Three bolts of lightning rained down from the heavens, engulfing the area in blinding yellow light. The shepherds were forced to cover their eyes. Sully and Frederick's horses became startled, but their riders managed to keep them under control.

When the light had faded the shepherds gasped to see something amazing. The leader stood still; the three bolts of lightning pierced its back, keeping it from moving. The smell of burning flesh filled the air. The leader's eyes went dim and it dematerialised into a vast amount of purple smoke. Robin looked at the tome that was currently in his hands. He found that it was the one that he had procured from Violet around two hours ago. Pocketing the tome once again, he silently thanked his sister for it.

"I owe you one sis." He muttered, tiredly under his breath.

As soon as the leader had finally disappeared, the other creatures retreated back into the darkness of the trees. Soon the only ones left in the clearing were the shepherds and the masked man. Robin remained where he was. He felt totally drained. Beginning to lose consciousness Robin began to topple over. As he began to fall, the masked man caught him allowing him to fall in to his shoulder.

Believing him to be unconscious the masked man dropped his charade and whispered into his ear with a female voice that Robin assumed was "his" real voice.

"Thank you, Robin. Please continue to look after the shepherds. I've missed you all so much. Make sure that you and Chrom remain safe. You are vital for our future."

As Robin passed out, he finally realised why he always had a strange feeling after hearing this "mans" voice. This masked man, was a woman.

(...)

Unbeknownst to anyone, from a top of the trees a woman in a purple cloak had watched the entire battle unfold. The woman gave a sigh, watching as the masked man laid down her unconscious brother against a tree. The other shepherds rushed over to him in order to check on their companion. She gave a sigh

"Pretty good brother, but if a simple arc thunder spell drains you to this extent then you have a long way to go. Train brother. Become stronger so that when the time comes, you will be able to join with him."

With that the woman became engulfed in light, once it had faded, she had disappeared.

(...)

Robin woke with a start the next morning to find he was laid out across of Frederick's horse, Gabriel. He looked around to see the rest of the shepherds walking along a straight road. He quickly mounted the horse properly.

"Morning guys!" He called to the others

At his words the rest of the shepherds stopped and turned towards him, smiles of relief on their faces.

"Robin!"

Lissa ran over and tackled him off the horse, causing both of them to fall to the ground and the shepherds to laugh.

"Robin! Thank Naga you're safe! We were so worried about you when you fainted after using that spell!" She cried into his shirt.

"Thanks for being worried about me." Robin told her comforting the girl. "But don't worry I'm fine now."

"O-ok" she mumbled. Sully and Virion began to mutter to each other with devilish grins on their faces.

Lissa finally released Robin and got up of the ground. Chrom walked over to the still grounded Robin, offering him his hand, which he gladly took. After getting off the ground he and the others continued walking. Robin looked around him. He assumed they were currently walking along one of the main roads towards a city or another town. The weather was gorgeous, the sun was shining and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. It defiantly made up for the hell he had been through the previous night.

"You gave us quite the scare back there." Chrom told him. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I just felt drained after using that spell, no biggie." Robin replied putting his hand behind his head in embarrassment.

"Well that's good, but tell me. When did you learn that spell? It shouldn't have been in the tome we found you with."

"Right about that..." Robin started moving his hand over the bulge in his coat pocket. "I'd rather tell you somewhere more quieter. Is that okay?"

Chrom nodded. "Yes that will be fine"

Robin looked around once more. Everyone was accounted, for except one.

"Hey, what happened to masks?" He asked. He had wanted to question the woman about something.

"You mean Marth?" Robin gave him a confused look. "After you fainted it gave us a chance to talk to him. He told us his name and gave us a ominous message about the future. After that he left rather quickly. He asked us to thank you for saving him. Why? Did you want to ask him something?"

"Umm...No, don't worry about." Robin deadpanned. "I see." He thought. "If she didn't reveal her true gender to him then I had better keep it to myself for now. By the way she was talking, i'm sure we haven't seen the last of her." He thought about her sword. Even though he had only seen a glance of it, it had looked remarkably like Falchion.

"Milord!"

Robin's thoughts were interrupted when Frederick approached them.

"What is it Frederick?" Chrom asked.

"Ylisstol is on the horizon. We should be there by midday tomorrow."

"Thank you, Frederick" Chrom told him.

The knight bowed and went back to his horse.

"Ylisstol?" Robin asked, he had not actually known where they were headed.

"It is the capital of Ylisse and our destination." Chrom explained. "Like Fredrick said, if you look closely, you can see it." He pointed ahead of them.

Robin looked past the other shepherds and saw a tremendous sight. A palace, surrounded by large walls, stood tall and proud about a mile down the road. From where he was it seemed to shine in the light of the sun.

Chrom put a hand on his shoulder and gestured towards it.

"Robin! Welcome, to Ylisstol!"

**Authors note: Thanks for reading guys. I appreciate the continued support. As always leave your reviews so I know what I did well and what I did wrong. I won't be writing next week because I am in Spain so I'll see you in two weeks. Bye! **


	6. Chapter 5: Ylisstol: The City of Hope

**Authors note: Hi guys. I'm finally back Spain and automatically began writing a new chapter, sorry if you're getting annoyed that it's taking me a while to get along with the story but I'm trying to add depth to the story. As always please leave your reviews for me to read. Hope you enjoy.**

**Fire Emblem Awakening: Defying Destiny**

**Ylisstol: The City of Hope from the land of new beginnings **

The rest of the shepherd's journey was moderately peaceful. Robin walked along side Chrom and Lissa, chatting happily. Virion and Sully followed close behind. Every so often a shout would ring out from Sully followed by the sound of a fist connecting with the archers gut, punishing him for his continued attempts at courting her. Frederick the Wary lived up to his nickname by scouting ahead and moving any devious pebbles that could threaten his lord and lady tripping and hurting themselves. Eventually Robin fell back to walk with the bickering Sully and Virion. First of all to ensure Sully didn't kill the archer. And secondly, to find out more about his new friends. As it turned out Sully had known Chrom since they were children, and told Robin some embarrassing stories from Chrom's past. Robin smiled wickedly, imagining how he could use this "useful" information against Chrom later. Virion on the other hand, being the all "high and mighty" he was, went on about his many adventures in distant lands before he had come to Ylisse. He explained to Robin, he had only joined the Shepherds recently. This made him, next to Robin, the second newest member of the shepherds. Robin told both about his amnesia and how he was only able to remember limited things about himself, earning the sympathies of the pair.

It wasn't long afterwards they arrived at the overwhelming marble gates to the entrance of the city. The guards that stood there welcomed them with a friendly nod, much to Robin's surprise.

"Don't worry." Chrom told him, giving the tactician a pat on the back. "It's fine, you could save that I carry a little weight around here." He explained proudly.

Robin gave Chrom a look of confusion. Ever since that morning, Chrom had been feeding Robin riddle after riddle leaving him more confused than when he had woken up the previous morning with no memories. He was clearly trying to hint something to him but what he didn't know.

Upon entering the city, the Shepherd's were surprised to see the inhabitants calm and going about their daily business peacefully. They seemed completely unaware of the events from the previous night. The Shepherds had been expecting them to be panicking and rioting in the streets, however it seemed that the quake had not reached Ylisstol.

"It seems that the city was spared the destruction that we were forced to endure last night. I see no evidence of the great quake; it must've been limited to the forest." Frederick remarked, a small smile of relief on his face.

"Well, that's a relief!." Lissa said letting out a sigh.

"It's good to see that everyone is safe." Chrom conferred .

"I hear you there." Sully told him continuing to walk down the street with the others.

"Milord, I believe that we should report last night's events to the Exalt." Frederick told Chrom.

"Agreed." Chrom replied. "She will also want to know about the Plegian brigands that we encountered yesterday.

"Yes, Milord." Frederick replied, placing a hand to his chest.

"Chrom!" Robin called causing both men to look towards where his voice had come from. It had seemed that while the men had been talking, Robin and the rest of the Shepherds had walked further into the crowd of people littering the streets leaving the other two behind.

"Hey! Wait up!" Chrom called out, chasing after the laughing Shepherds, Frederick close at his heels.

The shepherds stayed as a group for about another half an hour. As they walked together towards the palace through the busy streets, the Shepherds used the time to show Robin some of the sights around the city that they found interesting. Including some of Lissa's favourite restaurants, the local smith, a kind man named Connor who cared for the Shepherds weapons when they were broken or provided them with new ones when it was needed. Robin planned to visit him later to check the condition of the arms blade. He was also shown the main market where he would be able to buy any item he may or may not need. After awhile Virion and Sully decided to head back to the Shepherds garrison to get some rest. After saying their farewells they turned and walked back into the crowd. Upon Frederick's request, they took his horse back with them. Despite having disappeared from sight, Robin was able to hear Sully's cry's of anger as Virion continued to harass her. He also heard at least one girlish scream coming from a grown man.

"Gotta give Ruffles credit for trying" Robin murmured under his breath before following Chrom, Lissa and Frederick.

They continued to walk through the city and soon came to the main plaza of the city. However there was quite a commotion. A whole gang of people were crowding around something. However whatever it was was blocked from Robin's view. Chrom gave a knowing smile and pushed his friend towards the crowd.

"Chrom, what are you doing?!" Robin cried. "Why are you pushing me over here? Oh!" Robin was instantly calmed as the most peaceful and loving feeling flooded over him. He looked through the crowd and finally saw what everyone was gawking at. In a parade like fashion, a woman dressed in a green cloak led an assortment of Pegasus knights, paladins and great knights through the streets. The woman had long, golden hair, done into curled braids that came down to the base of her neck. Upon her head was a gold crown and on her fore head was the same mark Chrom had on his right shoulder. As she passed by, the woman waved towards the cheering crowds. She wore a compassionate smile on her face.

"Look! The Exalt has come to see us!" A old man in the crowd cried.

Robin continued to watch her as she passed by him and headed towards the palace. Chrom, having watched his friend, let out a hearty laugh, slapping his friend on the back. Robin turned to see Chrom, Lissa and Frederick smiling at him.

"Yeah, she has that effect on people." Chrom claimed, chuckling slightly.

"That was the Exalt?" Robin asked, still clearly stunned.

"Yes, that was her majesty, Emmeryn, the Exalt of Ylisse." Frederick stated.

Robin was dumbfounded. "She was the Exalt?!" Robin cried, pointing after where the woman had headed.

"Yes, could you not tell by her royal guard?" Chrom asked.

"That parade was her entire royal guard?!" Robin exclaimed.

"Now who's hurting whose ears?" Lissa muttered devilishly under her breath.

"Emmeryn is the most kind hearted person you or I shall ever meet." Chrom explained. "She will always seek out the peaceful solution to any problem. She detests violence." He began walking again, closely followed by Frederick and Lissa. Robin began to follow them at a slower pace. He was still at a loss for words. That woman seemed to embody peace itself. She had such a calming aura. It seemed the crowd loved her a lot.

"Robin! You done day dreaming?!" Chrom called, bringing Robin back to earth.

"Ye-yeah, sorry. I'm coming!" He called back running to catch up with them. Once he had he matched his pace to Chrom's. "Your Exalt seems like a truly benevolent person."

"The Exalt is a symbol of peace- Ylisse's most prized quality." Frederick declared proudly. "Long ago, at the dawn of our age, the Fell Dragon tried to destroy the world. But the first exalt joined forces with the Divine Dragon and laid the beast low. Exalt Emmeryn reminds us all of the peace we fought for then."

"With Plegia poking at our borders, the people need her." Chrom declared. He then smiled warmly. She's a calming presence, when some might otherwise call for war.

Robin joined in Chrom's smile. "Then the Ylissean people are indeed lucky to have her."

Lissa, who had been walking beside Frederick, giggled slightly.

"She's also the best big sister anyone could ask for!" She exclaimed. The group waited for Robin's reaction.

Robin, only half listening, took in the information without thinking.

"Yeah, I'm sure she would be." Robin smiled and kept walking until realisation finally dawned on him. "Wait, what?! Did you say sister!? She's your..."

Chrom and Lissa began to laugh as Robin stopped and stared at them, jaw agape. Even Frederick had allowed himself to crack a smile.

"But-but th-that would mean that you two are..." Robin began to stutter. Pointing from Chrom to Lissa.

"The Prince and Princess of the realm, yes." Frederick finished for him, still wearing his mock smile. "You remember Milord's name and not this?" Suspicion returned to his voice.

"Bu-bu-but you said you were "shepherds"!" He cried desperately.

Chrom chuckled slightly. "And so we are...in a matter of speaking. We just have a LOT of sheep."

Robin continued to stutter before dropping to one knee, his left hand behind his back, his right clenched in a fist over his heart. Chrom and Lissa both looked embarrassed whilst Frederick looked strangely proud. "Milord and lady please forgive my incompetence! I beg your forgiveness! Please excuse my dreadful manners!"

"Heh, heh urm you can get up now." Chrom told him, looking around at the now staring people. "Just call me Chrom. I'm not one for the formalities anyway."

"Right, sorry about the display." Robin replied nervously, getting up from the ground, his face slightly red.

"Don't worry about it" Chrom deadpanned. "Let's just get to the palace and warn Emm about last night."

With a nod from Robin, the group continued on their way to the palace.

"I guess this explains why Frederick tolerates all the teasing, eh?" Robin joked as they walked.

"Indeed." Frederick's voice came from behind. Oh, the sacrifices I make for the good of the realm..." he let out a dramatic sigh.

"And we love you for it, Frederick!" Lissa chimed.

"Speak for yourself." Robin and Chrom muttered under their breaths. However they both heard each other, throwing them to into a fit of laughter. The two supported each other as they walked in through the gates of the palace.

* * *

The four shepherds walked through the great halls of the palace. Robin was in awe of how wondrous everything was. Brand portraits were displayed upon the walls showing the family line of the Exalts of Ylisse going back to the Hero King himself. Fine scarlet rugs coated the palace floors. Guards were posted at every entrance. Their armour was in pristine condition, however its shine was nothing compared to Frederick's. Each door was made from strong, polished oak adding to whole the grand effect. Chrom lead the way, acting as a guide for Robin who had never been there before. Lissa followed close behind, her hands behind her back. Upon entering the palace she had asked one of the servants to take her staff to her room. Robin stayed to Chrom's right, listening to his explanations about the palaces history. Frederick just stayed behind the group, continuously eyeing Robin, his suspicion still evident.

Once they had finally reached the giant throne room doors, the four finally stopped. Robin felt quite nervous. This was the countries ruler. What would happen if he did something wrong or he managed to insult her? Chrom, sensing his friend's uneasiness, decided to calm his nerves.

"Don't worry. Emm is more likely to lecture you than punish you. You have nothing to worry about."

Robin looked at his friends. Chrom and Lissa both gave him a reassuring smile, Frederick a quick nod. Somehow it relaxed him. He smiled back at which point Chrom nodded and turned.

"Ok then, let's not keep Emm waiting."

Chrom nodded at the guards, who were standing guard. At once, they pushed the doors open, revealing the glorious sight that was the palace throne room. The room seemed cavernous, going on for what seemed a good 200 meters. The ceiling depicting the heavens was held by great carved marble pillars. Paintings of Ylisse's great victories decorated the walls. Statues of the Hero King Marth stood in all corners of the room. Each showed him brandishing what he assumed was Falchion. It looked different to the one at Chrom's side. Robin thought that would have to ask him about that later. At the end of the grand room lay the countries throne, currently unoccupied. Next to it, awaiting their approach was a stern-looking older woman, her hands behind her back. Her silver hair done into a tight bun. She sported light, polished bronze armour and shoulder bracers, Robin guessed that she was a Pegasus knight. He had seen the same armour on the Pegasus knights accompanying Emmeryn through town. From her composure, Robin assumed she was quite the able fighter.

"That's Philia." Lissa whispered to Robin as they approached. "She's captain of Emms elite guard and the wing-commander of the Pegasus knights. She's looked after us ever since our father died."

The group stopped at the three small steps leading to the throne. Philia gave a bow before Chrom and Lissa.

"Milord and Lady, it is good to see that you are safe." She proclaimed once she had reassumed her stance. "We already have word of the destruction of the forest. I apologise for my incompetence in not sending you aid."

"Don't worry, Philia." Chrom told her. "You have nothing to apologise for. As you can see, we are fine."

"Does that have something to do with you new companion, Milord?" Philia looked directly at Robin.

"You could say that." Chrom said with a smile. "This is Robin; he has saved our lives several times in the past twenty four hours. I have brought him here to meet Emm."

Philia gave another look towards the slightly shaking Robin and then back at Chrom.

"Very well my lord. I shall fetch the Exalt at once then." With one last bow and a nod to Frederick she exited the room through one of the side doors. As she left, Robin finally released his breath.

"She scares me." He said with a sigh.

"That only means she is doing her job properly." Frederick said without looking at the tactician.

"You have nothing to fear Robin." Chrom told him with a smile, "Philia may seem cold at first however she warms to people quickly."

"Nice to know." Robin muttered. He looked around the room once again. "I feel so out of my comfort zone." He thought.

The Shepherds remained silent for a few minutes until Philia re-entered the room.

"Presenting her highness and ruler of our land. Lady Emmeryn, Exalt of Ylisse!" She announced proudly, turning to face the door and knelt down in respect as Emmeryn entered the room. As soon as Frederick saw the Exalt, he did the same thing as Philia, kneeling down with his face to the ground. As he went down, he took Robin with him. Forcing him down by the back of his neck. Robin tried to look up but Fredericks hand kept him looking down.

Emmeryn, once she had told Philia that she may stand, walked over to Chrom and Lissa and gave them a warm smile. Robin once again felt the calming aura that he had felt earlier. It calmed his nerves.

"Chrom, Lissa. Welcome home." Emmeryn said warmly, wrapping her siblings in a warm hug. "It is good to see that you are safe." She released her siblings and looked towards the still kneeling figures of Frederick and Robin. "Oh, and good day, Sir Frederick. You and your new friend can stand; as I have told you before, you don't have to be so formal with me."

"Thank you, Milady." Fredrick replied, finally releasing Robin and allowing him to stand.

Emmeryn smiled at all of them. "So, how fared you all?" she asked.

"Well-we shouldn't have any bandit problems for a while." Chrom explained proudly.

Emmeryn smiled once again. "Wonderful. And our people?" Concern evident in her voice.

"Safe as they can be, Emm." Chrom declared, however his voice then took more of a serious tone. "But we still need to watch the borders. The brigands crossed over from Plegia" He said angrily.

Philia bowed once again. "Forgive me, milord. My Pegasus knights should have intercepted them."

"No, Philia. Your duty was here, with the Exalt." Chrom deadpanned.

Lissa then gave a wide smile and looked towards Robin. "Besides, we had plenty of help!"

Emmeryn once again looked towards Robin. "Ah, you speak of your new companion here?" she asked.

Chrom gestured towards the tactician. "This is Robin." He told her. "He fought bravely with us against the brigands. I've decided to make him a Shepherd."

Emmeryn nodded at her Brother and turned and smiled at Robin. "It sounds as though Ylisse owes you a debt of gratitude, Robin."

Robin bowed put his gloved hands on his heart. "Not at all, it was nothing, Milady!" Robin proclaimed.

"Wow, I just it seems as if everyone here is really nice, even Frederick when he wants to be." Robin thought to himself.

Frederick suddenly coughed into his fist, drawing everyone's attention to him.

"Forgive me, Your Grace, but I must speak." He said. "Robin claims to have lost his memory, but it is only that: a claim. We cannot rule out the possibility that he is a brigand himself or a Plegian spy."

"I never liked that guy!" Robin thought angrily.

Chrom apparently shared his anger.

"Frederick!"

Emmeryn however did not seem fazed and turned to Chrom. "Yet you allowed him into the castle, Chrom. Does this man have your trust?" She asked.

"Yes" He said without hesitation. "He risked his life to save our people and he has saved my life and Lissa's on several occasions. That's good enough for me."

Robin couldn't help but smile. Chrom must have been the most trusting person that he knew. Which, in fairness, wasn't hard due to his amnesia.

Emmeryn nodded and once again turned to Robin and smiled.

"Well then, Robin, it seems You've earned Chrom's faith, and as such you have mine as well."

Robin bowed again. "Milady."

Emmeryn then turned to address Frederick. "But thank you, Frederick, for your prudence, as always. Chrom and Lissa are blessed to have so tireless a guardian. I do hope they remember to mention that from time to time."

Frederick nodded. "They occasionally express something akin to gratitude, Your Grace."

Philia then stepped forward. "Milord, as I said before, we heard of the situation you faced last night. We have had many reports that the creatures you faced have spread far across Ylisse."

Emmeryn nodded. "We have sent out search parties to deal the problem, however..." She looked at Chrom. "We are about to hold council. Chrom, I was hoping you could join us."

Chrom nodded and sighed. "Of course." He answered and then he muttered. "Just don't expect me to be awake the whole time."

Frederick, having heard his lord, stepped forward. "Don't worry, Milord. I shall make sure that you stay fully alert during this meeting.

"Wonderful." Chrom deadpanned.

Lissa quickly walked over to Robin and took his arm. "I think that's our cue, Robin!" She cried. "C'mon there's this place I want to show you."

She then proceeded to drag Robin from the room.

"Hey-hey! Wait! Lissa! Where are you taking me!?"

"You'll see!" The girl cried, gleefully.

* * *

After finally managing to release himself from Lissa's grip, Robin followed her out of the Palace gates and back into the cities busy streets. Lissa led him towards a populated area where it seemed that most of the city's populace lived. Robin realised that the people who were around him were part of the country's military, they all carried swords at their sides and walked in the same dignified way that Frederick had. They were probably men who had returned from border patrols and were spending time resting from their duty before they had to head out again. He looked at the sky. It was turning a pleasant orange as day turned into evening.

Lissa continued down the path before stopping in front of a tall building. She turned to face Robin and held out her arms.

"Ta da!" She exclaimed.

Robin was at a loss for words. "Lissa, where are we?" He asked, unsure what to make of the situation.

"This is your new home!" She declared.

"Huh" Robin stuttered, at a loss for words.

"This is the Shepherd's barracks. Emm gave us this building when Chrom first set up the Shepherds a year ago." Lissa explained. "This is where we; sleep, train, eat and get to know each other whenever we aren't on a mission. As you can see over there we are well equipped if you every feel the need to get a horse." She said gesturing to the stables, where Robin had no doubt Sully's and Frederick's horses were resting.

"I don't think that will be necessary." Robin said nervously. He still wasn't over his ride through the forest on the back of Fredrick's maniac horse.

"Ok. Well anyway do you want to meet the others?" Lissa asked.

"Sure." Robin replied

"Great! Well then, welcome to your new home!" Lissa declared, opening the front door.

Robin stepped through the now open door to be greeted with a warm sight. He had walked into the Shepherds living area. It was a big room, decorated plainly, but still inviting. To the side of the room, there was a fire place with a selection of arm chairs that looked quite nice to sit in during the winter. In the centre of the room was a massive circular table, where Robin assumed the Shepherds played cards or did other recreational things. To the other side appeared to be a cooking area and dining area. A series of smaller tables took up most of the space. Around one sat three people with a fourth man doing push ups on the floor. The first person Robin recognised was Virion. The so called "archest of archers" sat calmly, facing them, sipping from a china tea cup. His bow and quiver placed neatly beside him. Upon seeing him the archer lifted his cup in welcome. Next to him was a rather beautiful girl who looked around Chrom's age. She wore a pink Pegasus knight's armour with a short purple skirt. In her hair lay a hair clip in the shape of Pegasus wings, being used to keep her long, brownish grey hair out of her eyes. Robin noticed that her boots seemed too large for her. The man on the floor, now that Robin was close enough to see, was doing push ups. He was a shirtless, tanned man with eccentric blond hair. Upon closer inspection, Robin found he also had a nicely toned body. He had muscles pretty much everywhere on his body. Once the man had gotten off the ground upon hearing Robin and Lissa walking over, Robin noticed a well established six pack. Around his neck was a silver, metal neck brace with chain attached. Finally, sitting with her back towards Robin and Lissa, was a girl around Lissa's age. She had long blond hair done into bunches, a pink ribbon lay on either side of her head, she wore a pink horse riders uniform. A mini parasol lay next to her chair. Robin could tell from the saucer on the plate in front of her she was drinking the same tea as Virion.

Lissa giggled slightly.

"Hey!" She cried cheerfully, earning the attention of the rest of the people in the room.

The girl who had been drinking tea quickly turned and looked at Lissa. She suddenly bolted out of her chair and ran over to Lissa, completely ignoring Robin.

"Lissa, my treasure! Are you all right?" she exclaimed. Her voice sounded so regal that the first word which came into Robin's mind was nobility. The girl began to check over Lissa, searching for any injuries. "Oh thank the gods!" She continued. "I've been on pins and needles!"

"Hey, Maribelle!" Lissa said happily as if nothing was wrong.

""Oh hey" yourself!" The girl, apparently named Maribelle, replied angrily. "I've sprouted fourteen grey hairs fretting over you!"

"Aw, you worry too much." Lissa deadpanned. "I can handle a battle or two!"

The muscled man walked over and gave a quick wave. "Hey, squirt!" He cried. "Where's Chrom?" He asked looking around. "I bet he had a rough time out there without ol' Teach and his trusty axe!"

Lissa chuckled slightly. "So you're "Teach" now, Vaike, is that it?" She giggled again. "And here I thought some people were just born lacking wits. It can be taught?"

"Ha! Never doubt the Vaike!" Vaike proclaimed, the insult completely thrown over his head. "Wait..." He said as he finally realised.

The Pegasus knight walked shyly over, watching her step. "Beg pardon..." She said, uneasiness betraying her voice. "But when might we see the captain?" She asked. Robin looked closer to see the woman was blushing.

"Gods!" He thought. "She likes Chrom, doesn't she?"

Maribelle stopped fawning over Lissa and turned to the other woman. "Poor Sumia, she's simply been beside herself with concern. Her eyes were scanning the horizon all day during training." She stopped explaining for a minute and put her hand to her head and sighed. "She might have earned fewer bruises fighting blindfolded."

Lissa turned to Sumia and smiled brightly. "Aw, Sumia, that's so sweet of you to worry about Chrom.

Sumia blushed heavily ."Worry?" She squeaked. "Well, I...He's our captain and our prince. O-of course I'd worry!" She said, trying to justify her actions. Causing everyone to laugh. Once they had stopped, Vaike finally brought up what Robin had been expecting the conversation to turn to.

"So, who's the stranger?"

For the first time everyone's eyes turned to Robin.

"No one's stranger than you, Vaike..." Lissa jested before gesturing to Robin. "But allow me to introduce Robin!" She declared. "He just joined the Shepherds. Chrom's made him our new tactician. You should see all the tricks he's got up his sleeve!" She exaggerated.

"Oh yeah?" Vaike challenged. "Can he do, this?" He put his hands on his chest and let out a thundering belch.

Across the room, Virion grunted.

"Barbarian." He muttered.

However, Robin laughed slightly. "I'm sure I have much to learn in the belching arts, "Teach". In any case, It's a pleasure to make your acquaintances." He smiled warmly at them.

Lissa and Sumia chucked slightly whereas Virion rolled his eyes. Vaike smiled manically and stuck out his tongue. "Hell, yeah!" He cried giving Robin thumbs up.

Maribelle did not join the good will though. She put her hands on her hips and turned her head

"Ugh, Vaike! That was abhorrent!" She declared angrily. "Must you baseborn oafs pollute even the air with your buffoonery?" She then turned and pointed at Robin. "And you, Robin! Don't encourage him! I'd hoped you were cut from a finer cloth. Hmph!" She then proceeded to storm out of the room through a door which Robin imagined led to the stables considering he could hear the sound of horses.

Once she had left, Sumia turned back to Robin.

"Don't take it to heart, Robin." She told him, looking at Robin's worried expression. "Maribelle warms to people slowly." She explained.

"Or burns to quickly!" Lissa claimed with a giggle. "But yeah, just give her time."

The sound of an opening door turned everyone's attention to Chrom, who had just walked in through the front. Frederick hot on his heels.

"Hey guys!" Chrom cried with a wave. "How is everyone?!"

Upon seeing Chrom, Sumia instantly beamed and began to blush.

"Captain!" She cried. "You've returned!" She began to walk over to him. "I was- I mean, we were so-agh!" She cried as she tripped on some random papers and fell to the ground on her face. Robin winced, he couldn't help but feel sorry for her. Sumia quickly got back on her feet and dusted herself off, her face as red as a beat. "oooww." She moaned.

Virion sighed at the sight of the girl and Lissa and Robin gave her an apologetic look. Vaike merely tried to contain his laughter. Chrom quickly hurried over to Sumia and began to look her over.

"Sumia! Are you all right?" He asked clearly concerned "It's those boots of yours again, isn't it?" He asked kindly, checking her face for injury.

Sumia turned a deeper red. "No! I mean, yes! I mean...*sigh*"

The two looked deep into each other's eyes earning kissy face from Vaike and Lissa and another sigh from Virion. Fredericks face was unreadable. Robin turned away as if nothing was happening.

"Gods you two, get a bloody room." He thought.

Chrom, finally realising he was in public, turned red and moved away from Sumia and turned to address the group.

"Right...um is everyone here?" He asked.

"Stahl is on patrol around the forest, Sully is in the stables, Miriel is at the library in the palace and Maribelle just left after the barbarian fouled the air." Virion stated, not looking up from his cup.

"Right, not much I can do about the others but Lissa could you get Sully please?"

"Sure!" Lissa exclaimed, running into the other room. She quickly returned with Sully in tow.

"What's this about Chrom?" Sully asked upon joining the group.

"I was about to get to that." Chrom told her before turning to address the whole group. "All right, listen everyone." He spoke with a commanding tone that demanded respect. "We have sent a request for an audience with the East Khan of Regna Ferox, if it is granted, we will head north to ask for reinforcements." He explained "Robin, before you ask, I will inform you on the Feroxi later. Is that ok?" He said anticipating his friend's question.

Robin gave a nod. "Ok"

Chrom turned back to address the group once more.

"Now, this mission is strictly voluntary. So if, for any-" Before Chrom could continue, Lissa interrupted him.

"I volunteer!" She cried, sticking her hand in to the air.

"Me too!" Vaike seconded. "You'll be needin' ol' Teach along for such a delicate mission!"

"I'll go as well."

The sound of a new voice coming from behind him, panicked Robin. He turned and looked around him but saw no one. He squinted and was finally able to make out the figure of a giant man, clad in full armour, standing in the shadows. The man waved nervously, Robin returned it awkwardly before turning back to Chrom.

"How did I miss him?!" Robin thought. "He's absolutely massive!"

"I shall go as well." Virion said over from the table. It'd appeared no one had heard the man in armour other then Robin.

"Like hell I'm not going!" Sully exclaimed. "As I said before, all the fun happens with you!"

"It is my job to keep you and Milady safe, Milord. I shall follow." Frederick stated.

Only Sumia and Robin were left to answer.

"I...I,um..." Sumia started. Robin noticed she looked quite nervous.

"Yes, Sumia?" Chrom looked at her questionably.

Sumia put her hands back on her chest before answering. "It's just...I'm not sure I'm quite ready for a proper mission just yet." She explained. "I'd probably just get in the way."

Chrom shook his head. "Not at all. You should come." A subtle blush crept upon his face. "Stay behind the main group in battle, just watch and learn."

Sumia blushed madly. "W-well, if you think it wise, Captain."

"Just stay by me and you will be fine."

Sumia was once again started doing her impression of a tomato.

"Oh yes!" she squealed causing some shocked glances. Remembering where she was Sumia went quiet. "I mean-Yes, sir. I'll do that!"

Chrom nodded and turned to Robin.

"And you Robin?" He asked.

Robin chuckled slightly. "What and let you guys go off and have an adventure without me? Of course I'm coming."

Chrom smiled and once again addressed the group. "Great, now that, that is settled we shall continue to train until we receive a reply from Ferox."

"Yes, captain!" The group cried.

After that everyone spilt up and went to do their own thing. Robin looked around awkwardly, he realised he had nothing to do. Luckily Chrom saved him from his from his would be boredom.

"Robin, I think it's time we had a chat about what happened in the forest."

And dragged him into an even worse situation.

"Yeah...wonderful." Robin deadpanned as he followed Chrom into another room. It was rather a rather small room with only a desk, a couple of chairs and a bookcase. Robin assumed it was some kind of study.

Chrom closed the door and gestured for Robin to take a seat. Once Robin had sat down, Chrom pulled up the chair and sat opposite him.

"Ok, tell me what happened out there." Chrom voice was calm but his eyes were stern.

"Well, you see, it's like this..." Robin proceeded to tell Chrom everything about what had happened the previous night. How he met his sister, how they fought and how she had disappeared. He showed Chrom the spell book which Violet had left behind and explained how it was where the spell had come from.

"And it appears that as I regain my natural ability with magic, I'll be able to read more of the spells." Robin concluded.

"This is all very interesting." Chrom told him. "I am however concerned in who this "master" person is. He seems to have a pretty tight hold on your sister."

"Yeah." Robin replied regretfully. "Hopefully, one day I will be able to break the hold he has on her."

Chrom got out of his seat and put his hand on Robin's shoulder.

"Do not worry my friend. One day, you two shall be together again. I promise you."

Robin smiled. "Thank you, Chrom." His mind then drifted to what Chrom had told him hours earlier. "By the way, after I passed out, you said that Marth gave you a message. What did...um he say?" Robin asked cautiously, remembering that only he knew Marth's secret.

"Well it was actually quite confusing..."

* * *

(The previous night)

Chrom watched as the masked man laid his friend down gently against a nearby tree, swiftly followed by Lissa running over, her staff at the ready and began to check on him.

Once she was finished she let out a sigh of relief. "Robin will be fine." She told Chrom, much to his relief. "He just depleted his mana using that spell. He just needs some rest."

"That's good to hear." Chrom told her before turning back to the masked man. "Thanks for your help. You have saved my sister and have fought alongside us. You are a true warrior."

Lissa stopped checking the unconscious Robin and turned to the masked man.

"Um, I never got to thank you...for before. So... thank you. You were very brave." She told him.

The masked man remained as silent and as stoic as ever. Chrom coughed into his hand to break the silence. "As Robin said earlier my name is Chrom. May I ask for yours, sir?"

The masked man looked away for a moment before turning back.

"You may call me Marth." He said simply.

Chrom raised an eyebrow. "Marth? After the hero king himself?" The masked man just gave a quick nod. Chrom smiled slightly. "You certainly fight like a hero. Where did you learn your way with a sword?

Marth shook his head before answering. "I'm not here to talk about me. This world teeters on the brink of a horrible calamity." He gestured towards the still burning forest. "What you see now is but a prelude of what is to come. You have been warned."

Marth, with a swish of his cape, turned around and began to walk away leaving the shepherd to ponder his message. He however stopped when he walked past Robin. He looked at him for a moment before tilting his head towards Chrom and the others. "Look after him. You will find that this man is indispensible." Finally he walked in to the trees, disappearing into the darkness.

"Hey, wait!" Lissa called. But Marth, had already gone.

* * *

"Not much of a talker was he?" Robin joked once Chrom had finished his tale.

"His skills appeared to lie elsewhere." Chrom replied.

"Yes. I agree." Robin tented his hand and leaned forward, trying to make sense of Marth's message. "I wager we will hear...his, name again." He said trying to be respectful of the woman who had saved his friends life.

"Well there's not much we can do about it at this moment." Chrom replied with a sigh. "For now let's get you settled into the garrison. You are going to be living here for a while." He began to walk out when he stopped and gave his friend a devilish smile. "By the way, you're rooming with Vaike."

"What!"

Chrom let out a hearty laugh."Just joking."

"Very funny." Robin deadpanned.

* * *

Over the next few days Robin found himself training alongside Chrom and the other shepherds in preparation for the mission. In his spare time, he read books about Ylisse's history and about its landscape and even revised the few books on tactics that he found lying around the garrison. The day after he had arrived Robin, Virion and Chrom went into the city market in order to buy Robin some new clothes and some camping supplies ready or the journey. Robin later met Miriel, the red haired mage, intellectual who was learning to master fire magic, and shared notes on their respective skills. With Mirel's help, Robin soon found himself learning basic fire magic. One evening, he even found himself playing chess with Lissa and Sumia, who were kind enough to teach him the game. He found he had a natural talent for the game and quickly over came the teachers. When he wasn't relaxing, Robin could be found training with the arm's blade with Chrom or the ever so Wary, Frederick in the training yard at the back of the garrison. Even though Robin never believed he would be able to beat Chrom in a one on one sword fight, he aimed to get as close to it as possible.

Word returned from Ferox a week after Chrom had first announced the plan, accepting the request of a meeting. Chrom declared that they would be leaving in the morning and asked Vaike and Lissa to tell the recently returned, Stahl to meet them at the garrison in the morning. After that Robin excused himself and went to his room in order to pack.

Robin carefully went through his new belongings choosing what he believed he would need for the Journey to Regna Ferox. According to Frederick, Robin needed to bring lots of warm clothing to make up for Feroxi climate.

"Guess I'm bringing my cloak." Robin mused to himself, looking at the purple cloak that hung from one of his bed posts. As he did so, Robin couldn't help but look around the rest of the room that he had been supplied with. The Shepherds had been rather generous to him, giving Robin a spacious room with a desk for any paperwork he may receive and his own personal bathroom. Robin looked at his reflection once again on the mirror that was on the wall, only to find a total stranger staring back.

"Gods, I'm never going to get used to that." He thought out loud. The first thing Robin had done after receiving his room was to look in the mirror so he could find out what he looked like. However when he looked into it, all he saw was an unfamiliar face staring back. He had short brown hair and brown eyes to match. Upon further inspection, Robin found he had a four pack, something he couldn't help but feel proud of. Robin turned away from the Mirror and began to put his tomes back into his cloak. He stopped to look at the tome Violet had left. Robin always felt nostalgia when he held it. Since the creature attack in the forest, Robin had been unable to unlock any more spells. With a final sigh, Robin put the tome back into his cloak.

Robin let out a yawn and looked outside his window. It was pretty late and Robin needed his rest for the next day. He was about to change into his small clothes when Robin felt somebody's presence. Recognising it, Robin put on his cloak and his boots, and proceeded to leave the garrison, being careful not to wake any of the other Shepherds. Once he was outside, Robin pulled up the hood of his cloak and, using a trick Miriel had taught him, conjured a small flame on the tip of his finger to allow him to see.

Robin walked through the deserted streets of the city towards an alley way where he knew no one would be able to hear him if someone were to come outside. Once in the alleyway, he lowered his cowl with his free hand and called into the darkness.

"I know you're there! You may as well come out now!"

After a few seconds, Robin felt the person's presence behind him. He turned and smiled at the newcomer.

"It's good to see you again, Violet."

**Authors note: Thanks for reading everyone. Please leave your reviews as always as I like the feedback. I hope you enjoyed the chapter. It was fun to write. If there is any confusion about the Marth gender thing, the bit where it says Marth is a guy is Chrom's perspective and where it says Marth is a woman is what Robin actually knows. Thank again for reading. Bye.**


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